India and Malaysia are considering increasing their defense, commerce, and tourist ties

As co-chairs of the bilateral Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on Tuesday, Malaysian Zambry Abdul Kadir and Indian S. Jaishankar discussed potential areas of collaboration, including digital, fintech, and semiconductors.

After a 12-year break, the JCM reassembled, with Jaishankar emphasizing in his inaugural speech the value of the mechanism in assessing the two sides’ relationship. The 2011 JCM took place in Kuala Lumpur.

“At this point, Malaysia is one of our most important strategic allies. You are our third-largest [trade partner] in Asean, and we are among your top 10 trading partners, he remarked.

According to him, there is also a chance to investigate novel fields such as digital, semiconductors, renewable energy, and space. He continued, saying, “We have always appreciated your support for our larger relationship with the Asean.”

In his opening comments, Foreign Minister Kadir, who is on his first visit to India, said that the two countries will look into “more areas of cooperation and collaboration for now and the future.”

Following the meeting, Jaishankar said on X that the two parties had evaluated the state of their cooperation in the areas of commerce, energy, health, education, tourism, defense, security, and people-to-people connections.

Additionally, he said, “shared perspectives on other regional and global issues as well as the Indo-Pacific, ASEAN, West Asia, and others.”

The two foreign ministers attended the signing of an agreement on cooperation in diplomat training between Malaysia’s Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations and the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service, as well as a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between Prasar Bharti and Radio Television Malaysia (RTM).

Additionally, Kadir spoke with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on measures to strengthen their bilateral relationship.

In 2022, India and Malaysia celebrated 65 years of diplomatic relations. In 2015, the relationship was upgraded to an enhanced strategic partnership, and in 2017, a collaboration plan was released by both parties.

According to a statement from the foreign affairs ministry, Kadir’s visit provided a chance to “comprehensively review bilateral relations and to explore ways to further deepen and strengthen them.”

India ranked as Malaysia’s eleventh-largest trading partner in 2022, with a total trade value of $19.63 billion, up 23.6% from the previous year.