At the 13th meeting of Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM), both sides expressed happiness over the growing bilateral defence ties with regular military engagements between the two armed forces in recent years.
During the meeting, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Malaysia Secretary General of Ministry of Defence Lokman Hakim Bin Ali, there were wide-ranging discussions on effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements. The two sides also identified steps to enhance cooperation in emerging areas such as cyber security and AI.
Singh highlighted the capability of the Indian defence industry, particularly its potential to collaborate with Malaysian companies and the armed forces in their capability enhancement and modernisation.
Both sides reaffirmed the commitment to fully implement the new initiatives under the defence pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the latter’s visit to India in August 2024.
India and Malaysia also exchanged the finalised Terms of Reference (ToR) on the establishment of the Strategic Affairs Working Group, which will act as a consultative mechanism intermediate between the MIDCOM and the two sub-committees to progress all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.
Both sides also exchanged the finalised ToR on the establishment of Su-30 forum, which will enable closer cooperation between the two air forces in exchanging expertise and best practices in Su-30 maintenance.