India, Malaysia vow to combat terror; ramp up defence ties

Modi complimented Najib for providing leadership in combating extremism and...

Putrajaya

: Vowing to combat terror, India and Malaysia on Monday decided to ramp up their strategic ties in security and defence sectors and called on all states to bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Malaysian counterpart.

Modi, while speaking at a joint media briefing after his talks with Malaysian Premier Najib Razak, said the recent spate of attacks in different countries, \"not to mention the ceaseless terrorist attempts against India and Afghanistan are a reminder of the global nature of this threat.\"

Modi also complimented Najib for providing leadership in combating extremism and radicalisation, rejecting any link between terrorism and religion and in highlighting the \"real values of Islam\".

A joint statement released after the talks said both sides expressed \"strong condemnation for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and called upon all states to reject terrorism and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice. In this context, they welcomed the ongoing cooperation between the two countries on counter terrorism and agreed to further enhance cooperation in this direction.\"

Malaysia and India also agreed to continue sharing of information and best practices to address the challenges posed by terrorism and other \"traditional and non-traditional threats\". Modi and Najib recalled their stake in promoting multiculturalism and reaffirmed their \"commitment to democracy, pluralism and development\".

Appreciating Najib's leadership in combating extremism and radicalisation, Modi said this is a great contribution and an important aspect of global efforts against the challenge. Warning that terrorism is the \"biggest threat\" to the world, Modi had yesterday said it should be delinked from religion.

Talking about security and defence cooperation, Modi said both countries will make it stronger, including for advancing maritime security and strengthening disaster response in the region.

\"I am pleased that we have agreed to upgrade our joint exercises and set up the SU-30 Forum,\" he said, adding that both sides will do more in terms of level and complexity of exercises and collaboration in training and defence equipment.

\"Our agreement to cooperate in cyber security is very important. As our lives get more networked, this is emerging as one of the most serious concerns of our age,\" Modi said.

India and Malaysia signed two MoUs on Cooperation on Cyber Security and Cooperation in Project Delivery and an agreement on Cultural Exchange Programme for 2015-2020. The Prime Minister said he shares Najib's belief that bilateral trade and investment relations can be scaled up significantly.

In an effort to further broaden and deepen the relationship between the two countries, both leaders agreed to proceed with efforts to develop the bilateral strategic partnership.

As part of the efforts, they agreed to intensify political consultations by holding regular summits, including on the margins of multilateral events, the joint statement said.

The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment cooperation and to deepen and widen their economic engagement \"which has emerged as an important fulcrum of the strategic partnership\".

\"We intend to exploit the full potential of our bilateral agreements and the India-ASEAN Agreements. We look forward to an early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement,\" Modi said.

He expressed confidence of taking the bilateral strategic partnership to a new level.

The two sides agreed to promote joint collaboration, especially in infrastructure and construction sectors and to facilitate joint projects and collaboration between the private sectors of the two countries, in line with the new developmental and business initiatives undertaken by India, such as the Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities and Skill Development that offered significant investment opportunities for Malaysian businesses.

\"The two Prime Ministers, while expressing satisfaction with the progress of bilateral relations over the years, reaffirmed their determination to take the Strategic Partnership between the two countries to the next level by deepening existing areas and exploring new areas of cooperation,\" the statement said.

Noting that India-Malaysia relations have made impressive strides in recent years, the two leaders decided to ramp up cooperation in defence and security sectors.

The two sides \"agreed to enhance defence exchanges through regular dialogue at various levels, including between the Defence Ministers, senior defence officials, Chiefs of the Armed Services and through service-to-service staff talks.\"

They also greed to convene the next India-Malaysia Defence Cooperation Meeting at Defence Secretary/Secretary General level.

Prime Minister Najib said a New convention Centre will be built in New Delhi under government to government contract. Modi said, \"We have built a vibrant economic partnership. We are located on the same maritime route.\"

Noting that Malaysian competence in infrastructure is well known and that Malaysia has completed several important projects, including in the road sector, in India, Modi said he wanted to see enhanced Malaysian participation in areas such as expansion and upgrading of infrastructure, Make in India, and Smart Cities projects.