Malaysian PM Anwar Visits Keralam To Explore New Areas Of Cooperation
By R.Ratcharathan
KERALAM, INDIA, Sept 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Keralam is expected to open up opportunities for new areas of cooperation between Malaysia and southern India in various fields, including wellness tourism, education, trade and investment.
The Consul General of Malaysia to South India, K. Saravana Kumar, said Keralam has extensive expertise in Ayurveda, as well as approaches that integrate traditional medicine with modern medicine, or allopathy, which Malaysia could potentially explore to develop its wellness tourism sector.
“In addition, tourism is also an area with significant potential for further strengthening, given the substantial flow of tourists between Malaysia and southern India, particularly involving Keralam and Tamil Nadu.
“Tourism ties benefit both countries, but we see significant potential to further increase the number of tourists from southern India visiting Malaysia,” he told Malaysian media ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit here, which begins Sunday.
After attending the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Anwar will continue his journey to Keralam and is scheduled to meet the Grand Mufti of India, Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, at Jamia Markaz here to exchange views on community development, educational advancement and interfaith harmony.
Elaborating, Saravana Kumar said Anwar’s maiden visit to Keralam as Prime Minister is also highly significant in strengthening Malaysia-India bilateral ties, particularly with the states in southern India.
He said the visit is also expected to inject fresh momentum into Malaysia’s relations with southern India, while opening up opportunities to explore areas of cooperation that are of mutual interest.
According to him, the Keralam state government views the Prime Minister’s presence as an important development, given that Malaysia is a significant bilateral partner of India, and has made extensive preparations to provide Anwar with the best possible welcome and hospitality as a state guest.
Saravana Kumar said Keralam, which is also renowned for its extraordinary natural beauty and cultural heritage, also has a reputation for sustainable development, clean energy and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could be among the areas for both sides to exchange expertise and experience.
He said the Prime Minister’s visit to Calicut, also known as Kozhikode, will also focus on business engagement and meetings with prominent Indian industry players and corporate figures, which are expected to open up new opportunities for cooperation and investment.
He said Anwar is also scheduled to meet Keralam Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan and Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar tomorrow to discuss bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Keralam in key sectors such as trade and investment, tourism, healthcare and education.
The Prime Minister arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modern diplomatic relations between Putrajaya and New Delhi were established in 1957, shortly after Malaysia gained independence, and India remains Malaysia’s largest trading partner in South Asia, with bilateral trade reaching USD18.55 billion (RM79.33 billion) in 2025.
The working visit is expected to further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, while opening new opportunities to expand high-impact cooperation, particularly in the economic, trade and investment sectors, digital technology and education.
-- BERNAMA
