India, Malaysia look to reset ties hit after Delhi's Kashmir move

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim walks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Anwar's ceremonial reception at India's Presidential Palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, India, August 20, 2024. /Adnan Abidi

NEW DELHI - India and Malaysia will boost cooperation in areas such as semiconductor, financial technology and defence production, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday after meeting his Malaysian counterpart, as the two countries look to reset ties.

Relations soured around late 2019 following some remarks by largely Muslim Malaysia's then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad against New Delhi removing the autonomy of India's only Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

That had also hit India's purchases of Malaysian palm oil.

"We have decided that we will elevate our cooperation to the level of ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’," Modi said, without specifying what that will imply but noting that Malaysia had invested $5 billion in India in the past year.

"In areas which require new and modern technology like semiconductor, fintech, defence industry, AI and quantum technology, we will increase cooperation."

He said the two countries have also been conducting bilateral trade in their rupee and ringgit currencies. India has been trying to boost the acceptability of the rupee as sanctions on countries like Russia exposes it to its heavy reliance on the dollar.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his country would reinvigorate relations with India in all fields.

"There are so many areas that we need to explore further," he said. Both Anwar and Modi didn't take questions from the media.