PM Najib Looks Forward To Exploring New Opportunities In India

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is looking forward to exploring new opportunities in India during his third official visit to India, beginning Thursday. "This will be my third visit to India since assuming office (in 2009) and I will be visiting Chennai, New Delhi and Jaipur. During this visit, among others, I will be meeting India's captains of industries as well as attend the 7th Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council Meeting (GSIAC). "I also hope to exchange ideas and have fruitful discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to further strengthen our bilateral ties. InsyaAllah," he said in his latest blog posting at najibrazak.com. The prime minister said this year marked the 60th anniversary of the Malaysia-India diplomatic relations, and therefore marking the significance of the friendship between the two nations, which extends beyond the formalities. "Uniquely, India has contributed to the demographics of the Malaysia we see today. The Indian community makes up the third largest ethnic group in Malaysia and many Indian Malaysians still have family relations in India. We are quite literally connected to each other," he said. Najib said since his last visit to India in 2010, the Malaysia – India relations had flourished and blossomed. "We have established the Malaysia – India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and India is among Malaysia's largest trading partners and largest export destination. "We have also established partnerships in terms of defence cooperation, counter-terrorism, tourism and culture relations, IT and services as well as infrastructure projects," he said. Najib' maiden visit to India was in January 2010 and again in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit. --BERNAMA