Jaishankar meets Malaysian counterpart on his last leg of Southeast Asia tour

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday met his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad bin Haji Hasan and had a “productive” and “frank” discussion on the multifaceted dimensions of bilateral ties as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest, said Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

Jaishankar is in Kuala Lumpur for a two-day visit from March 27-28 and is on the third and last leg of his three-nation tour to Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia.

He met the Malaysian Foreign Minister Hasan here and held a "productive and frank discussion, including exchanging views on the multifaceted dimensions of Malaysia-India bilateral affairs as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest," an official statement by the country’s foreign ministry said.

This was their first meeting since the Foreign Minister took office in December 2023, it said. The ministers also discussed the exchange of high-level visits and the convening of the 7th Joint Commission Meeting of Malaysia and India on a mutually agreeable date.

Jaishankar will also call on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later in the day and is scheduled to meet Minister of Digital Gobind Singh Deo, the foreign ministry said.

His visit aims to strengthen cooperation between India and Malaysia and enhance understanding of shared challenges and opportunities, it said.

Malaysia and India share a long-standing and substantive relationship bound by robust economic partnerships and close people-to-people ties.

The statement noted that in 2023, India was Malaysia's 12th largest global trading partner, with total trade amounting to RM 77.76 billion (USD 16.53 billion).