India–Malaysia Relations

History

• India established diplomatic relations with the Federation of Malaya (predecessor nation of Malaysia) in 1957. 
• India is represented in Malaysia through the High Commission of India based in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is represented in India through their High Commission in New Delhi and Consulates General in Mumbai and Chennai.
• The two countries had a strong relationship in the 1960s because of the private friendship between Prime Ministers Nehru and Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.
• Presently, India and Malaysia have developed close political, financial and socio-cultural relations.

Areas of Cooperation

Agreements and MoUs:

• Several Agreements and MoUs have been signed between the 2 countries, including in the subject of Commerce, Avoidance of Double Taxation, Customs subjects, Higher Education, Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Tourism, Traditional remedy, IT and services, Cultural Exchange Programme, Public Administration and Governance, Air Service Agreement to call some.

Defence and Security Cooperation:

• A MOU on Defence Cooperation was signed in 1993. India’s defence relations with Malaysia have gained momentum in the course of recent years.
• Visits: The Malaysian Defence Minister visited India in June 2006 and in April 2017. The Indian Defence Minister visited Malaysia in January 2008 and once more in November 2015 (multilateral).

Security Cooperation:

• On the security cooperation aspect, India and Malaysia cooperate to keep freedom of navigation and overflight underneath the “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)” for Free Navigation and Security Cooperation over the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
• India-Malaysia additionally has close cooperation on regional security subjects – a Joint Working Group (JWG) was established in 2010 by both countries to address terrorism threats.

Education:

• A MoU on better training was signed in India at the visit of former Malaysian Prime Minister’s Najib’s visit in 2010.
• There are 2000 Indian students in Malaysia and 4000 Malaysian college students in India. The most number of students from Malaysia belong to the scientific area.

Cultural Links:

• Indian Cultural Centre, Kuala Lumpur, beneath ICCR was established in February 2010 and conducts instructions in Carnatic Vocal, Kathak dance, Yoga, Hindi language and Tabla by trained instructors from India and Malaysia.
• India and Malaysia signed an MoU on cooperation inside the field of Traditional Medicine in October 2010.

Indian Community:

• There are over 2,44,000 Indian expats legally hired in Malaysia in the skilled and semi-professional category.
• A bilateral MoU on Employment and Welfare of Workers signed in January 2009 establishes an institutional framework to cope with problems concerning Indian workers.

Economic and Commercial Cooperation

• India and Malaysia signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) on 1 July 2010, which came into force from 1st July 2011.
• The purpose of CECA was to strengthen economic ties among both countries.
• India signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in services and investments with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in September 2014.

Major Malaysia Imports to India

India’s essential import commodities from Malaysia which includes palm oil, mineral gasoline, mineral oil, electric equipment, equipment, and so on.; Also vegetable fats or animal fats and oils and their cleavage products; boilers, nuclear reactor equipment and mechanical system; copper and its articles, wooden; Includes charcoal, natural chemical substances aluminum, iron and metal, and other miscellaneous chemical products.

Major Indian exports to Malaysia

India’s major exports are commodities consisting of mineral fuels and mineral oils to Malaysia and apart from these, India additionally exports other commodities like aluminum, meat and edible meat offal, iron and steel, copper, mechanical device, electric equipment and gadget, natural chemical compounds, and nuclear reactor equipment.

Recent Developments

• In 2017, after the visit of then Prime Minister Najib Razak to India. India and Malaysia prolonged their mutual settlement to enlarge cooperation in regions inclusive of infrastructure development and constructing smart cities.
• In 2020, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad spoke in competition to the revocation of Kashmir’s special status and the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act. India had then banned palm oil imports from Malaysia leading to a fall of 50 in step with cent (2019 – 1.1 million tonnes) from January to February 2020. Later, the decrease was lifted following the formation of a new government in Kuala Lumpur.
• The year 2022 marks 65 years of establishment of “political or diplomatic relations” between both India and Malaysia.

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