India’s defence relations with Malaysia have gained momentum in recent years

Army Chief General MM Naravane on Thursday had a telephonic interaction with Chief of Malaysian Army, General Tai Sri Datuk Zamrose Bin Mohd Zain and exchanged views on enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.

A tweet by the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) said, “General MM Naravane #COAS had telephonic interaction with General Tan Sri Datuk Zamrose Bin Mohd Zain, Chief of Malaysian Army and exchanged views on enhancing bilateral defence cooperation between both Nations.”

India’s defence relations with Malaysia have gained momentum during recent years. A Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation signed in 1993 is the cornerstone of defence relations between the two countries.

The Malaysian Defence Minister had visited India last in April 2017. The Indian Defence Minister had visited Malaysia in November 2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Malaysia at the invitation of Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia on November 23, 2015 during which the two countries had jointly issued a statement on enhanced Malaysia-India Strategic Partnership.

The eleventh Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Meeting (MIDCOM) chaired by the Secretaries of the two Defence Ministries, was held in Kuala Lumpur on November 21, 2018.

Regular Staff Talks between the services at apex level have been extremely successful. The 6th Army to Army Staff Talks were held in May 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

The 8th Air Force to Air Force Staff Talks were held in Kuala Lumpur on February 14-16, 2018. The 7th Navy to Navy Staff Talks were held in July 2018.