Rajnath Singh Reviews Malaysia’s Defence Partnership With His Counterpart

The strong defence connections between New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur were reinforced at Monday’s video conference meeting between Malaysian Defense Minister Hishamuddin bin Hussein and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. They also discussed ways to expand their defence cooperation.

Had a lovely video conference conversation with Malaysia’s Senior Defence Minister, Mr. Hishamuddin bin Hussein. In a tweet, Singh stated, “We discussed potential for both countries to further deepen our defence cooperation and reiterated the strong defence relations between India and Malaysia.

Prior to the ASEAN-India summit, Malaysian External Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held bilateral discussions during which they exchanged an agreement to recognise COVID-19 vaccination certificates and discussed bilateral relations, sectoral cooperation, and people-to-people ties.

The meeting between Jaishankar and Abdullah took place on June 16–17 in New Delhi, concurrent with the Delhi Dialogue and Special India ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.

The foreign minister of Malaysia has previously stated that the special qualities of ASEAN nations and India together can serve to develop the relationship between the two regions.

Speaking to the Delhi Dialogue’s Ministerial Session, he said that both parties would pledge to expand and enhance their strategic alliances, including those related to the Indo-ASEAN Pacific’s view.

Notably, 2022 will mark 65 years since India and Malaysia first established diplomatic ties.

India and Malaysia have strong ties that are based on strong inter-personal ties, a common past, and established trade ties. Both nations have strong trading ties, with bilateral commerce expected to reach USD 14.45 billion in 2020–21. Defence and security cooperation has emerged as a key tenet of India and Malaysia’s bilateral relations.

The 5th Foreign Office Consultations (bilateral consultations) between India and Malaysia took place on April 12 in Putrajaya, Malaysia, and were co-chaired by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, and Dato’ Amran Bin Mohamed Zin, Deputy Secretary-General for Bilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia.

Both India and Malaysia indicated a desire to develop their entire bilateral relations within the framework of the 2015 Enhanced Strategic Partnership as they reviewed their complex relationship during the Foreign Office Consultations. The Foreign Office Consultations offered the chance to examine the whole range of bilateral relations and to discuss current regional and global topics of shared interest.