NEW DELHI: India and Malaysia have reached an agreement to trade in local currencies. This was announced after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim here on Tuesday.
"Trade between India and Malaysia can now be settled in Indian Rupees (INR) and Malaysian Ringgits (MYR). Last year, an investment worth $5 billion from Malaysia to India has been worked on. Today we have decided to elevate our partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," said PM Modi.
This comes after the Enhanced Strategic Partnership between India and Malaysia completed a decade.
PM Ibrahim is on his first official visit to India. However in his individual capacity he has visited India many times. "I had come as a student leader when Indira Gandhi was the PM. India is an enigma," he said.
"In the neighbourhood, there is an issue in Myanmar and though we haven’t recognised the government we want things to settle down. We also discussed the situation in Bangladesh with PM Modi," said PM Ibrahim in response to a question from The New Indian Express.
The two leaders discussed all areas of mutual cooperation extensively.
"We believe that there is still a lot of potential in economic cooperation. Bilateral trade and investment should be expanded. We should enhance our mutual cooperation in areas of new technology, such as semiconductors, Fintech, defense industry, A.I. and quantum. We have emphasized upon stepping up the review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Malaysia," said PM Modi.
"It has been decided to establish a Digital Council and create a Start-up Alliance for cooperation in digital technology. Work will also be done on connecting India's UPI and Malaysia's Paynet. Today's meeting of the CEO Forum (between India and Malaysia) has brought forth new possibilities," he said.
"We have also discussed new possibilities of mutual cooperation in the defence sector. We are also unanimous in the fight against terrorism and extremism," PM Modi added.
However, there was no talk about the extradition of Zakir Naik, said PM Ibrahim, adding that they don’t support any kind of terrorism.
India and Malaysia have been connected with each other for centuries. Nearly three million Indian expatriates living in Malaysia are a living bridge between the two countries.
"From Indian music, food and festivals to the "Toran Gate” in Malaysia, our people have cherished this friendship. Last year the ‘P.I.O. Day’ celebrated in Malaysia was a very successful and popular event. When the Sengol was installed in our new Parliament House, the excitement of that historic moment was felt in Malaysia too," said PM Modi.
Among the agreements signed was one on employment of workers. This is expected to promote recruitment of workers from India as well as protect their interests.
"Visa procedures have been simplified to facilitate the movement of people. The emphasis is being laid on scholarships for students and training of government officials. Now 100 seats will be allocated exclusively for Malaysia under ITEC Scholarships for cutting edge courses like Cyber Security and A.I. An Ayurveda Chair is being set up in University Tunku Abdul Rahman. Apart from this, a decision has also been taken to establish Tiruvalluvar Chair in the University of Malaya. I thank Prime Minister Anwar and his team wholeheartedly for their cooperation in all these special steps," said PM Modi.
Malaysia is an important partner of India in ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific region.
"We agree that the review of the FTA between India and ASEAN should be completed in a timely manner. India will extend full support to Malaysia's successful ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. We are committed to freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international laws. And we advocate peaceful resolution of all disputes," PM Modi added.