By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, Thursday concluded a three-day visit to Malaysia during which he held discussions with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mohammad Najib and other officials.
This is Kapoor’s first overseas visit since he assumed office Oct 1, 2007. The visit, which followed closely on the heels of Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s last month, “marks the desire to expand bilateral relationship between India and Malaysia in the field of defence and security,” a defence ministry statement said.
“It also underlines the importance that India attaches to strengthening relations with Malaysia as part of New Delhi’s Look East Policy,” the statement added.
In Malaysia, Kapoor also held a delegation-level meeting with his counterpart, Gen. Mohammad Ismail.
“Held in an extremely warm and friendly atmosphere, the discussions between the two sides covered substantive issues. Both sides agreed to further deepen and expand their engagement,” the statement said.
“They agreed to share experiences and work together in the fields of counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, disaster relief, training, and maintenance of defence equipment.”
Both sides also agreed to hold dedicated discussions between their army chiefs to work out specific details of expanding cooperation between them.
Kapoor also visited the Southeast Asia Regional Centre of Counter Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur, and the Malaysian Army’s combat training centre.
“The Indian delegation had very fruitful interaction at these two institutions where both sides agreed to enhance the bilateral exchanges on the related fields,” the statement said.
Kapoor is currently in The Philippines on the second-leg of his Southeast Asia tour and will return home Saturday.