India-Malaysia Relations India established diplomatic relations with the Federation of Malaya (predecessor state 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. India - Malaysia have traditionally been close and friendly. There have been regular Summit level exchanges and meetings, the most recent of which were the visits by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Malaysia from 26 to 28 October 2010 and, earlier the same year, the visit to India in January 2010 of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mohd Najib. Foreign Ministers of both countries head the Joint Commission, which held its 5th meeting in Kuala Lumpur on 3rd May 2011. Other high level Ministerial visits from India in 2010 – 2012 include those by Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission in September 2010, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways in December 2010, the Minister of Commerce and Industry in February 2011 to sign the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), the External Affairs Minister of India in May 2011, the Minister of New and Renewable Energy in September 2011, the MOS(Textiles) in November 2011, the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs in February 2012 and the Minister of State for Finance in July 2012. The 3rd Foreign Office Consultations at Secretary level were held in Putrajaya on 12th March 2012 Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin paid an official visit to India (Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai) from 8 to 13 March 2011. He paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, and met External Affairs Minister, Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Minister of HRD. Malaysian Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation visited India from 21 to 22 February 2011, Minister of Health on 4 March 2011, Minister for International Trade and Industry from 2 to 4 March 2011, the Minister of Finance II in October 2011, the Deputy Foreign Minister (for the Delhi Dialogue) in February 2012, the Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities from 5-8 June 2012 and the Minister for Green Technology, Energy and Water from 7-8 November 2012. Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia visited India on December 19-20, 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held at New Delhi. During his visit he also had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and discussed the entire gamut of our bilateral relations. Prime Minister’s Visit to Malaysia: During the visit of the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh to Malaysia from 26 to 28 October 2010, India and Malaysia have agreed to work on a Framework for Strategic Partnership, which envisions development of a multi- faceted relationship with a view to elevate bilateral relations to the level of a long term and strategic partnership. The first-ever India-Malaysia CEOs Forum was jointly launched by both the PMs. PM Dr. Manmohan Singh delivered the ‘Khazanah Global Lecture 2010” at Putrajaya International Convention Centre on 27 October 2010. Both the PMs also inaugurated the ‘Little India’ project in Brickfields. Following six documents were signed during the visit: Agreement towards implementing Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Malaysia on 1st July 2010; MoU on Cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Indian Medicine MoU on Cooperation in the field of Tourism MoU on Cooperation in the field of IT & Services Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) and Agreement between CSIR of India and UNIK of Malaysia. Both countries also agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism. Both governments have also completed other enabling frameworks. A bilateral Extradition Treaty was signed in January 2010. A bilateral Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was signed in March 2012. A revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement was signed in May 2012, and a MoU on Customs Cooperation will be signed in the near future.. Defence & Security Cooperation: India-Malaysia defence relations have steadily grown over the years. A MOU on Defence Cooperation was signed in 1993. The Malaysian Defence Minister had visited India in 2006 and the Indian Defence Minister visited Malaysia in January 2008. Malaysia-Indian Defence Cooperation meetings at the level of Defence Secretary are held regularly; the ninth meeting of the MIDCOM was held in Kuala Lumpur in January 2012. Service Talks are held regularly between the two Armies every year; 3rd Army Staff talks were held in Malaysian in December 2012 and 5th Air Staff talks were held in India in December 2012. Service Chiefs from both countries regularly exchange visits; India’s Chief of Air Staff visited Malaysia in February 2012 and Malaysia’s Chiefs of Army and Navy both visited India in April 2012. The IAF Training Team deployed in Malaysia trained Malaysian pilots on the SU-30 MKM aircraft for two-and-a-half years since February 2008. Indian naval ships regularly make port calls in Malaysia; in 2011 our naval ships visited Malaysia in May, August and December and our Coast Guard ships visited in March and August, and in 2012 our ships made port calls in Mar, April, June and October. Both sides send naval ships and delegations to the bi-annual LIMA, DSA (Malaysia) and MILAN, DEFEXPO, AEROINDIA (India) regional events. India is also participating in the Cooperative Mechanism on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) and contributed to two of the six IMO Projects (Project 1 and Project 4) for enhancement of navigational safety and environmental protection in the Straits. Economic and Commercial Cooperation: Economic and commercial relations are emerging as the mainstay of the bilateral relationship. Malaysia is the third largest trading partner for India within ASEAN, and India is the largest trading partner for Malaysia from among the countries of the South, excluding China. With the coming- into-force of the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) from 1 July 2011 the bilateral economic engagement is expected to get a further fillip. The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) is a single undertaking covering goods, services, investment and other areas of cooperation. It was formally signed on 18 February 2011 in Putrajaya during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister. The first-ever India-Malaysia CEOs Forum, comprising 18 CEOs from both sides, was jointly launched on 27 October 2010 by Prime Ministers Dr. Manmohan Singh and Dato' Seri Mohd Najib to develop enhanced partnership and cooperation at the business level. The Forum held its second, third and fourth meetings in Mumbai on 20 May 2011, Kuala Lumpur on 22 November 2011, and Iskandar on 8 June 2012. Bilateral trade increased by 17 times from US $ 0.6 billion in 1992 to US$ 10.3 billion in 2008, before it declined to US$ 7.3 billion in 2009 during the global financial crisis, and re-bounded to US$ 9 billion in 2010. In calendar year 2011 bilateral trade showed robust growth of 32.7% year-on-year to reach a historical high of US$ 12.536 billion (as compared to US$ 9 billion for the same period last year). In the period January to September 2012, total trade is US$ 9.807 billion, which is a 7.1% increase year-on-year, and our exports have registered a growth of 23.6% year-on- year (US$2.97 billion). Trade still remains significantly imbalanced in favour of Malaysia (our exports were only US$ 3.327 billion in 2011 of a total two way trade of US$12.6 billion), and Government of India has drawn the attention of the Malaysian Government on the importance of more balanced trade. Based on direct investments from Malaysia to India, it is the 24th largest investor in India with cumulative FDI inflows valued at US$ 2 billion from 1991 to 2010. In addition, about US$ 6 billion in Malaysian investments are believed to be invested in India through the Mauritius route. Notable among these are Maxis Communications in Aircel, Axiata in IDEA Cellular Ltd, Khazanah in IDFC and Apollo Hospitals etc. Malaysian construction companies’ largest presence outside Malaysia is in India. They have completed 62 construction projects worth US$ 2.8 billion in India, while 16 projects worth US$ 2 billion are under various stages of implementation. Under a partnership with Malaysian Airports, GMR completed airport in Hyderabad in 2008, and the second one in Delhi in July 2010. Indian companies have invested about US $ 2 billion, making it the 7th largest investor in Malaysia. Indian companies that made major acquisitions include Reliance Industries Limited, Ballarpur Industries Limited, Larsen & Toubro and WIPRO. Biocon India, Manipal University, Strides Arcolabs and VLCC are amongst the companies who have announced fresh investments in Malaysia in the past 18 months. There are over 100 Indian companies including 60 Indian joint ventures operating in Malaysia. In addition, there are 60 Indian IT companies operating from Malaysia. IRCON International Ltd. has been actively engaged in the development of railways in Malaysia since 1988, and it is currently executing a double tracking project (Seremban – Gemas) worth over US $1billion. A MoU on Cooperation relating to the Provision of Technical Assistance Services on Highway Management and Development was signed in December 2010 during the visit of Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport and Highways to Malaysia. A bilateral Steering Committee has been established to oversee the implementation of this MoU, which will enhance the participation of Malaysian infrastructure companies in the Indian economy. Tourism & Connectivity: Air links have improved significantly following a bilateral agreement in 2007 to progressively increase the seat capacity to six major destinations in India and a provision for multiple destinations and designating any number of airlines to operate on the India–Malaysia routes.