NEW DELHI, Feb 6 — India and Malaysia will discuss a review of their bilateral free trade agreement, among a host of issues, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Malaysia this weekend.
India's External Affairs Ministry secretary Periasamy Kumaran said the move is part of efforts to enhance bilateral trade "in a balanced and sustainable manner".
Both nations are cooperating under ASEAN to reach an early conclusion to the ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), and are also discussing a joint review of the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA).
Speaking to the media during a briefing in New Delhi yesterday, he said that the Malaysia-India trade pact, which covers goods, services, and investments, was signed in February 2011 and came into force on July 1 that year.
Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are expected to hold wide-ranging talks on trade, investment, defence, semiconductors, digital technologies, renewable energy, education, healthcare, and people-to-people exchanges.
The value of annual bilateral trade is around US$20 billion (RM79.20 billion), and two-way travel has increased significantly.
Malaysia received more than 1.4 million Indian visitors, while 300,000 Malaysians travelled to India in 2025.
Kumaran added that Malaysia is the largest source of inbound tourists for India from Southeast Asia.
"The visit of Modi to Malaysia would serve to further strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as to set the path for future engagements," he said.
India is also keen to strengthen its defence and security ties with Malaysia, with Kumaran highlighting potential talks on the sale of Dornier aircraft, Scorpene-class submarines, and upgrades to Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jets as possible areas of collaboration.
“We are also looking at the potential supply of naval platforms by Indian shipyards. These are all areas that look promising, and we hope to be able to make progress on them,” he said.
