KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — India-Malaysia bilateral defence ties are on a robust trajectory, said India’s High Commissioner to Malaysia B.N. Reddy on Thursday.
According to Reddy, all three bilateral service exercises were carried out by both nations in the same year for the first time.
During the 2022–2023 timeframe, around 600 Indian Armed Forces troops will visit Malaysia for these three exercises: Army Exercise Harimau Shakti, Naval Exercise Samudra Laksamana, and the first-ever Air Exercise Udara Shakti. In November of last year, an Army Exercise was concluded in India by a contingent of eighty members of the Royal Malaysian Army.
The High Commissioner pointed out that Malaysia is an important country for India’s Act East policy, a significant trade partner in the Asean and globally, and a valued friend.
“During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Malaysia in 2015, our bilateral relations were elevated to Enhanced Strategic Partnership, with defence cooperation as a key pillar,” Reddy said in his opening remarks at the Mini Defence Expo cum Defence Industry Symposium on ‘India – Malaysia Defence Industrial Cooperation, here Thursday.
He further said that India has chosen Malaysia to be the Regional Hub for defence industrial collaboration involving its Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSUs), with a mandate for Southeast Asia.
“HAL Regional Office, inaugurated during the visit of Defence Minister of India in July last year, is serving this purpose,” Reddy said.
Reddy said the interaction between the defence industries of Malaysia and India has been institutionalised under the Malaysia-India Defence Committee (MIDCOM).
The 10th Joint Sub Committee on Defence Science, Technology and Industry Cooperation (JSDSTIC) held in New Delhi in September last year, agreed to enhance the defence industry cooperation by subscribing to specific industry oriented courses in India as also organising cross visits by High Level Delegations to each other’s defence industries.
“Progress on these is already underway,” the High Commissioner pointed out.
Reddy noted the successful visit of India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Malaysia in July last year, followed by the meeting of the Malaysia-India Defence Committee (MIDCOM) in September last year at the level of the Defence Secretary of India and Malaysia’s Ministry of Defence’s Secretary General.
According to Reddy, today’s event in defence cooperation between India and Malaysia ushers in the fourth decade of India-Malaysia defence engagement since the signing of the bilateral defence Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 1993.
“At the regional level, India-Asean celebrated 30 years of our dialogue relations and 10 years of Strategic partnership; and this year marks the decade of India’s Act East Policy. Our collaboration under the ADMM (Asean Defence Ministers Meeting) Plus, provides an additional forum for closer defence engagement keeping in view the regional defence and security dimensions,” he further said.
Reddy explained that India’s defence production ecosystem offers a range of exciting possibilities – for collaboration in defence modernisation and investments.
“Our defence startup scene is thriving. I am happy to note that the 18 Indian companies, which are here today, represent various defence sectors ranging from aerospace, shipbuilding, submarines, missiles, ammunition, electronics, surveillance, communication and protective gears,” he said.
In his address, the High Commissioner also touched on the Mid-Term Review of Malaysia’s Defence White Paper undertaken earlier this month, and the priorities identified in cyber security, drone technologies, utilising big data and artificial intelligence for threat monitoring.
“These areas provide good opportunities for bilateral defence industry engagement, for Indian defence industry players to engage with Malaysia as Indian companies have made rapid progress in these areas. In fact, few Indian companies attending the event today are working in some of these areas,” he said.
Reddy said, his country has taken a resolve towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self-Reliant India, where defence manufacturing has been identified as one of the pillars of growth and as part of its commitment to supporting and collaborating with friendly foreign countries, India is ready to share its expertise and experience in the field of defence technology and production with Malaysia.
“During the interaction between our Defence Ministers last year, Defence Industrial Cooperation as well as advancing defence research and development, were identified as focus areas. The Indian Defence Sector’s capabilities and capacities in producing high quality, low cost defence equipment like UAVs, Surveillance Radars, Anti-Drone systems, ammunition, simulators was highlighted. We look forward to formalising the engagements between STRIDE (Science & Technology Research Institute For Defence) Malaysia and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) India later this year,” said Reddy.
Today’s event, was the second edition. A 25-member defence industry delegation from India led by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) participated at the one-day event.
Since the first edition of the event held in February last year, the defence establishments of India and Malaysia have made considerable progress in defence industrial collaboration, said Reddy.
— Bernama
