By IRNA-PTI
Kuala Lumpur : Terming its expanding ties with India as a “strategic partnership”, Malaysia Tuesday voiced satisfaction over the rapid growth in bilateral trade and defence cooperation.
Visiting Defence Minister A.K. Antony called on Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi Tuesday morning and spent about 40 minutes discussing a wide range of issues.
The two leaders noted that the rapid strides in trade and defence were a “positive development” for further boosting ties and agreed that the ASEAN-India FTA should be completed soon.
Abdullah referred to the growing strong ties between India and Malaysia as “a strategic partnership” and expressed satisfaction especially over the cooperation in the defence sector.
Antony described his talks with the Malaysian premier as cordial and warm.
India and Malaysia yesterday announced stepping up of defence cooperation especially in training of Malaysia’s Air Force personnel and holding joint military exercises.
The two sides also exchanged views on the security environment in the Asia Pacific region and agreed on the need to have more dialogue and cooperation, bilaterally as well as through relevant regional and multilateral fora to promote peace, security and stability in the region.
Expressing satisfaction over the training of Malaysian airforce ersonnel in India, Abdullah noted that there were advantages of common language and usage of common equipment between the two countries.
The premier also referred to the 1.08 billion dollars worth of contract which has been awarded to India’s IRCON to build double track linking Seremban to Gemas, “a giant step in further cementing the strong bilateral ties”.
Antony, whose three-day visit concluded Tuesday, left for Penang this morning after his courtesy call on Abdullah.