Malaysia: Defence Secretary co-chairs 13th Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee

The 13th meeting of Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM) took place in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Secretary General of Ministry of Defence of Malaysia, Lokman Hakim Bin Ali, the Ministry of Defence noted.

Both of the sides expressed happiness at the growing bilateral defence cooperation with regular engagements between the two Armed Forces in recent years.

As per the Ministry of Defence, the two sides held wide-ranging discussions on effective & practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and regional & global issues. Both chairs identified steps to further enhance cooperation in emerging areas such as cyber security and AI. They also identified ways to deepen the existing collaboration, particularly in the defence industry, maritime security, and multilateral engagements and agreed to form a joint focus group to address non-traditional maritime security threats.

India and Malaysia reaffirmed their commitment towards fully implementing the new initiatives under the defence pillar of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the latter’s visit to India in August 2024.

The Defence Ministry noted that India and Malaysia also exchanged the finalised Terms of Reference (ToR) on the establishment of Strategic Affairs Working Group. This forum will act as a consultative mechanism intermediate between the MIDCOM and the two sub-committees to progress all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.

In a significant development, both sides also exchanged the finalised ToR on the establishment of Su-30 forum as an outcome of MIDCOM. Su-30 Forum will enable closer cooperation between the two Air Forces in exchanging expertise and best practices in Su-30 maintenance.

According to the Defence Ministry, the Defence Secretary highlighted the capability of the Indian defence industry, particularly its potential to collaborate with the Malaysian companies and the Armed Forces in their capability enhancement and modernisation. He congratulated Malaysia on assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus and wished MoD, Malaysia the best for conduct of ADMM Plus and ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting meetings this year.

India supports ASEAN centrality and unity, which is a crucial element of India’s Indo-Pacific Vision. The Defence Secretary reiterated India’s support to Malaysia’s endeavours as ASEAN chair in promoting a stronger, unified, and prosperous ASEAN that plays a central role in shaping the evolving dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region.

India considers Malaysia as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific as Malaysia lies at the confluence of three key foreign policy visions i.e. Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.