India’s initiative to expand and explore the bilateral relations between Asian countries has a new feather in the cap. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Malaysian counterpart Zambry Abdul Kadir co-chaired the Joint Commission Meeting. The meeting concluded with both sides departing in concord over pivotal matters of concern.
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The 6th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM)
The meeting comes as a part of an official visit to India by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, Zambry Abdul Kadir, from 05-08 November 2023. The 6th Joint Commission Meeting, co-chaired by Foreign Affairs Ministers of both nations, deliberated on issues like trade, security, finance sectors, and maritime cooperation. The meeting also explored new areas of collaboration like fintech, digital public infrastructure, and semiconductors.
The meeting comprehensively analyzed the status quo of progress made in all areas of bilateral cooperation, including defense, politics, health, energy, tourism, culture, and people-to-people ties. The meeting progressed positively as both sides realized the need for an Enhanced Strategic Partnership between the two prospering Asian nations—efforts to amplify economic and defense commitments along with cooperation in new and emerging areas. The sides exchanged views on issues of collective interests like regional, multilateral, and geopolitical matters.
A prolonged absence for 12 years
The Joint Commission Meeting was last convened 12 years ago, when the External Affairs Minister of India at the time, S.M. Krishna, visited Malaysia from 02 – 05 May 2011 and met with his counterpart, Dato Seri Anifah Aman. They co-chaired the 5th Joint Commission meeting held in Kuala Lumpur.
In the 6th JCM, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in his opening remarks, said that Malaysia is among India’s top ten trading partners and the third largest in ASEAN. He tried to point out that Malaysia is a crucial strategic partner for India and appreciated the continuing support given to India in its relationship with ASEAN. S Jaishankar on X posted that the sides shared their outlook on the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, ASEAN, and other regional and global issues.
Zambry Abdul Kadir, who is visiting India for the first time as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, said that the sides would venture into more areas of collaboration and cooperation for now and in the future.
The two Foreign Affairs Ministers validated the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation between Prasar Bharti and Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). The meeting also made an agreement between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service and Malaysia’s Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations on collaboration in the training of diplomats.
Brief History of India-Malaysia relations
India established diplomatic relations with Malaysia in 1957. It is the High Commission of India based in Kuala Lumpur that represents India in Malaysia. The High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulates General in Mumbai and Chennai represent Malaysia in India. There are regular summit-level meetings between both countries. The nations are a part of various organizations like ASEAN and, Commonwealth.
The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Malaysia in November 2015 has attained a new dimension of enhanced strategic partnership and bilateral relations between India and Malaysia. The nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Defense cooperation in 1993. The educational cooperation between the two nations developed over the years. According to the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur, around 2000 Indian students are studying in Malaysia, while an estimated 3000 Malaysian students are studying in India. In 2022, India and Malaysia marked 65 years of diplomatic ties.
Significant outcomes of the meeting
- The minutes of the Joint Commission Meeting agreed
- MoU on Cooperation in Broadcasting between Prasar Bharti of India and Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) of Malaysia
- Agreement between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) and Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs (IDFR) on Collaboration in the Field of Training of Diplomats.
