India, Malaysia working on further enhancing bilateral trade: MEA ahead of PM’s Kuala Lumpur visit

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Kuala Lumpur, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India and Malaysia are working towards further enhancing bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner.

Addressing a special briefing here, MEA Secretary (East) P Kumaran said PM Modi will visit Kuala Lumpur on February 7 and 8 at the invitation of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

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India and Malaysia are also discussing a joint review of the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, Kumaran said.

“Our countries are working towards further enhancing our bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner… The two countries are also discussing a joint review of the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. The PM will address the Indian community in Malaysia, which numbers around 2.9 million,” the MEA official said.

He said both sides will review progress on the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“The visit will also provide an opportunity to enhance our engagement with the ASEAN region… The PM will hold bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister of Malaysia. They will review progress on the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, particularly in priority areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, defence, security, semiconductors, digital technologies, renewable energy, education, healthcare, and people-to-people exchanges. The 10th meeting of the India-Malaysia CEO’s forum is also scheduled in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the visit. Our PM will also interact with leading Malaysian CEOs from key sectors,” he said.

“Upon invitation by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Kuala Lumpur on 7th and 8th February… Our PM had earlier visited Malaysia in 2015. During that visit, India-Malaysia bilateral relations were elevated to enhance the strategic partnership… The forthcoming visit comes within 1.5 years of the elevation of our bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the state visit to PM Amwar Ibrahim in August 2024, and reflects India’s strong commitment to our relations with Malaysia,” he said.