India and Malaysia decided to upgrade ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ on Tuesday, during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as part of a visit aimed at moving beyond several years of tensions over a number of issues.
The two leaders announced the decision to upgrade the 2010 Strategic Partnership, that had been made an ‘Enhanced Strategic Partnership’ in 2015, along with a number of agreements and MoUs signed in their presence., including on workers’ mobility, digital technology, culture, tourism, sports, and education. India will also work with Malaysia on its request to join the BRICS grouping that Mr. Ibrahim has been pushing for, officials said. The two Prime Ministers also discussed geopolitical challenges, including the current conflicts and tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Malaysia is an important partner of India in ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific region,” Mr. Modi said after the meeting. “We are committed to freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international laws. And, advocate peaceful resolution of all disputes,” he added.
Indian Ocean stability
Speaking at the Indian Council for World Affairs on Tuesday evening, Mr. Ibrahim praised India’s “unique, multi-aligned approach” and “astute and adept compartmentalisation of priorities and challenges” that he said Malaysia should learn from in dealing with global conflicts.
“Whereas the Atlantic Ocean must bear the dark history of imperial expansion, gruesome colonisation, and chattel slavery and as the Pacific Ocean world is riddled with tensions and on the epicentre of the renewal of the Cold War, here in the Indian Ocean world we can create a stable and resilient backbone for the global economy,” Mr. Ibrahim said.
Bilateral friction
Mr. Ibrahim’s visit is the first by a Malaysian PM since 2018, after which ties soured over Malaysia’s strong criticism of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, India’s demand for the extradition of controversial preacher Zakir Naik, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic when hundreds of Malaysians were detained in the lockdown in India.
Calling it “unfortunate” that ties have not progressed in the last few years, Mr. Ibrahim said it was important to note India and Malaysia’s similarities as two “multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries”.
“Malaysia and India, since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru and Tunku Abdul Rahman, have established good relations. But we realise in our generation that this must be further strengthened in a multitude of areas,” the Malaysian PM said in a statement after his meeting with Mr. Modi. He listed digital technologies, investments, trade, construction, modern agriculture, education, military collaboration, and “joint operations to safeguard our borders” as new areas of cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Modi also referred to the importance of “semiconductors, fintech, defence industry, [artificial intelligence] A.I. and quantum” technologies.
Additional rice export
The government also agreed to a “one-time” special allocation of 2,00,000 MT of white rice to Malaysia, which has been calling for India to ease its curbs on the export of rice and sugar. Malaysia, which is dependent on food imports from India, had requested an extra 5,00,000 metric tonnes of white rice from India in March, in addition to the 1,70,000 tonnes allocated for the year.
While neither leader directly spoke of the contentious issues between India and Malaysia, Mr. Ibrahim said their conversation had been “no holds barred, discussing all issues, sensitive or otherwise”.
Extradition request
Despite a number of requests since 2017, Malaysia has rejected India’s request to extradite Mr. Naik, wanted in India on hate-speech and money laundering charges, citing “insufficient evidence” to do so. Mr. Modi had previously raised the issue with Mr. Ibrahim’s predecessor Mahathir Mohamad in 2019.
When asked if the extradition was raised again, the Ministry of External Affairs’ Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar said that “many issues that had come up in the past” had been discussed. “The leaders discussed about extremism and radicalism and both see eye to eye... that it is important to address these issues,” he added, in a possible indication that the government is not keen on pressing the extradition issue at present.
