India-Malaysia Bilateral Joint Commission Meeting

• 09 Nov 2023

On 7^th November, 2023, India and Malaysia held the bilateral Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), co-chaired by External Affairs Minister and his Malaysian counterpart to strengthen their ties and delve into innovative areas of collaboration.

Key Points

• Reinvigorating Bilateral Ties: The Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) marked a significant moment as it resumed after a 12-year hiatus, with the last JCM held in Kuala Lumpur in 2011.
• Strengthening Trade Relations: India holds a crucial role in Malaysia's trading partnerships, ranking among its top 10 trading partners and being the third-largest trading partner within the ASEAN region.
• Exploring New Horizons: The JCM provided an opportunity to explore uncharted domains of collaboration, including digital technology, renewable energy, semiconductors, and space-related endeavors.
• Agendas and Collaborations: During the meeting, the two sides reviewed their cooperation in various sectors, including defence, security, trade, health, energy, education, tourism, and people-to-people interactions.
• Memorable Agreements: Both ministers witnessed the signing of essential agreements, including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation between Prasar Bharti and Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), as well as an agreement between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service and Malaysia's Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations for diplomatic training collaboration.
• Diplomatic Milestones: The meeting took place as India and Malaysia celebrated 65 years of diplomatic relations in 2022.
• Trade Highlights: In 2022, India ranked as Malaysia's 11th largest trading partner, with total trade volume reaching $19.63 billion, marking a substantial increase of 23.6% compared to the previous year.