Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a ceremonial welcome and guard of honor at Perdana Putra on Sunday on his two-day official visit to Malaysia.
After Prime Minister Modi arrived in Kuala Lumpur, he was received at a grand reception. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim personally welcomed him at the airport.
The ceremonial arrival included a red carpet welcome accompanied by traditional music and dance performances that celebrated the shared cultural heritage between India and Malaysia.
Modi also met Malaysian Human Resources Minister Ramanan Ramakrishnan and Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman bin Awang Sauni during his extended welcome ceremony.
Touched by the warm welcome, Prime Minister Modi said, “India and Malaysia continue to deepen a partnership rooted in trust, friendship and common aspirations.”
He also shared a few glimpses of the welcome ceremony, highlighting a group of students from the Malayan Hindu Sangam reciting Tirumurai devotional songs. “It is commendable how the Tamil community in Malaysia has preserved and popularized its heritage over the past few years,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi and Malaysian PM to hold talks – what’s on the agenda?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart will hold wide-ranging talks on Sunday, February 8, which are expected to yield a series of agreements to further expand cooperation between the two nations.
As part of the delegation-level talks, New Delhi is to again press Kuala Lumpur to extradite controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, PTI reported.
In his departure statement, Modi indicated that the visit would focus on a major push for deeper defense cooperation and strong economic engagement.
“The historic ties between India and Malaysia have seen steady progress in recent years. I look forward to my talks with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and further strengthening our comprehensive strategic partnership,” Modi said.
“We will seek to deepen our defense and security ties, strengthen our economic and innovation partnership, and expand our cooperation into new areas,” he said.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Prime Minister Modi’s visit has a “rich agenda and will be a big boost to the special partnership between India and Malaysia”.
“The visit is expected to give a significant impetus to our close and multilateral partnership,” he said.
India and Malaysia share deep-rooted relations shaped by common history, civilization and culture. These ties are further strengthened by Malaysia’s Indian population of approximately 2.9 million, which forms the third largest overseas Indian community in the world.