Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim arrives in India on first visit

New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim arrived in New Delhi late on Monday evening on an official three-day visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as both countries continue work on exploring initiatives to further strengthen bilateral relations that were elevated to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015. This is the Malaysian PM’s first visit to India since taking office in November 2022.On Tuesday, PM Ibrahim will receive a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.He will then visit Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi followed by a bilateral meeting with PM Modi at the Hyderabad House.Following the exchange of MoUs and press statements, Prime Minister Modi will host a luncheon in honour of the visiting PM. Later in the day, PM Ibrahim is scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu.External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar would also call on the Malaysian leader during his visit.”India and Malaysia have strong historical and socio-cultural linkages. Our bilateral relationship was elevated to the status of Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Modi. As both countries enter the second decade of Enhanced Strategic Partnership next year, the visit of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim would pave the way for further strengthening of India-Malaysia bilateral ties by charting out a multi-sectoral cooperation agenda for the future,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.The Malaysian PM is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Tourism Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, and Minister of Human Resources Steven Sim Chee Keong.During his visit, Prime Minister Ibrahim will participate in a roundtable meeting with several Indian industry leaders to advance economic cooperation between the two countries and also will also deliver a lecture titled ‘Towards a Rising Global South: Leveraging Malaysia-India Ties’ at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA).”In 2023, Malaysia and India’s total trade reached RM 76.62 billion (USD 16.53 billion), with Malaysia enjoying a surplus of RM 15.89 billion (USD 3.43 billion). India was Malaysia’s largest importer of palm oil and palm oil-based products, importing RM 11.31 billion (USD 2.44 billion). Malaysia’s major imports from India included petroleum products (RM 6.62 billion or USD 1.44 billion) and agricultural products, including halal meat (RM5.79 billion or USD 1.27 billion),” said a statement released by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry ahead of PM Ibrahim’s arrival in India.Malaysia was also India’s third-largest trading partner among ASEAN Member States and the largest trading partner among the eight South Asian nations in 2023. It is also expected that during his visit, the Malaysian PM will seek India’s support to join the BRICS alliance, an intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which added four new members – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates – on January 1, 2024.–IANSas/vd