Malaysian PM in India: Focus on business, counter-terrorism
Business, defence and counter-terrorism cooperation are set to get a big leg-up during Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak’s ongoing visit to India.
During their talks on April 1, Mr Najib, who is accompanied by his wife Datin Sri Rosmah Mansour, and Mr Modi will witness the signing of at least six commercial agreements and possibly a Memorandum of Understanding to expanding the defence cooperation.
Setting the tone for Mr Najib’s third visit to India as prime minister in five years (the previous one in 2012), the two leaders reflected their close rapport by taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter on the eve of the visit. Tagging Mr Modi in his post, the Malaysian PM tweeted: “I’ll be travelling to India for a five-day visit. A country that’s been our friend since 1957. Looking forward to meeting PM (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi again.” The Indian leader quickly responded by saying, “India is delighted to welcome you, Prime Minister. Your visit will further boost India-Malaysia ties.”
Malaysian investments in India stand at $6 billion and an additional $6 billion in projects has been executed in India. Indian investments in Malaysia are around US $ 2.5 billion, reflecting the robust economic relationship. The southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will allow Malaysia to build a 250-acre “fourth generation technology park” in its new capital Amravati which is being built by Singapore and Japan.