PM NAJIB TO WARM UP INDIA-MALAYSIA TIES DURING WINTER VISIT

By P. Vijian

NEW DELHI, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- India-Malaysia relations can be better and
warmer if time-tested recipes are slightly altered and whipped up to suit
current tastes, say many a keen observer of relations between the two countries.

So, when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak visits India
beginning Tuesday, he might need to use a fresh concoction to spice up relations
between "two old friends" before diplomatic fatigue sets in, they say.

For over two decades or so, India-Malaysia watchers feel that India had
blipped mildly on Malaysia's radar as they claim that Malaysians might have
overlooked their old Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ally as they calibrated their
focus on the "Look East" policy from the 1980s.

The result was that India got less attention as most Malaysian key
decision-makers had a less than favourable view of that country's shielded
economy then.

But today, it is a different ball game altogether. India has ascended from
its touristy type of magazine images of the land of "sadhus" (holy men) and
soothsayers.



With a population of 1.2 billion, it is now telling the rest of the world of
rainbow-coloured stories, like its US$1.2 trillion (RM4.0 trillion) economy is
Asia’s third largest, only rivalled by China and Japan.

Its sizzling economy, growing at about seven per cent annually, is propelled
by a 300-million strong middle-class of affluent Indians, larger than even the
entire American population put together.

India’s foreign reserves currently stand at US$280 billion (RM935 billion)
and last year it pulled in a staggering worth of US$18 billion (RM60 billion) in
foreign investments even as money supply dried up in international markets.

In the last three decades, India has progressed since its economy was
liberalised. The kind of activities that had taken place in India since then is
certainly remarkable. For example, the India Space and Research Organisation
(ISRO) had launched 53 satellites and Indian scientists are even developing
artificial human hearts based on cockroach breathing techniques!

India is definitely a rising economic supremo with a large scientific
reservoir and it would definitely be of strategic importance for a nation like
Malaysia to have close ties with the Indians.


Observers say that Najib can profit from this trip with the right strategy.
Having a broad-based template, with pragmatic sustainable investment policies
coupled with new geopolitical strategy with India, is the need of the hour,
especially when the region’s geopolitical and economic contours frequently
change and overlap.

The India-Malaysia watchers also say that Najib needs to remove policies
that are vague or draw ire among Indians and its influential and free Indian
media.

They add that the Malaysian leader also needs to embark on diplomatic
initiatives to convince the Indian political elite that Malaysia is a serious
player, like its neighbour Singapore, the second largest investor in the Indian
economy last year with investments of US$3.4 billion (RM11.35 billion).

India’s cultural and political tempo is on a different plateau today. With
its growing economic might, it is charting a new destiny in the region as it
tries to revive its influence.

Engaging India more deeply is surely to Malaysia’s economic and security
advantage, but there needs to be improved diplomatic housekeeping as well to
complete the recipe, the observers say.


When Najib travels to Tamil Nadu in southern India, he has to win over
hard-core Tamil leaders, who may have blood ties and strong cultural links with
Malaysians of Indian descent.

Another area where Najib can score is bringing to book unscrupulous labour
recruiters and employers who had given Indian migrant workers a raw deal.

The observers say that Najib should be able to triumph in both northern and
southern India, given his pragmatic perspective or world view on many issues and
his ability to think on his feet.

And the prime minister's genial personality should certainly defrost the
iciest of India's winters and warm the hearts of his hosts to break new ground
for stronger bilateral ties, they hasten to add.

-- BERNAMA