Rajnath Singh discusses deepening of bilateral ties with Malaysian PM

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called on Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim and held talks with his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Hasan here on Monday and discussed ways to further deepen bilateral defence ties.

Singh arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday on a three-day visit aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and strategic ties.

"Called on the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mr @anwaribrahim in Kuala Lumpur. Deeply appreciate his positive approach and interest towards further deepening India-Malaysia bilateral relations," he tweeted.

"Had an excellent meeting with the Defence Minister of Malaysia, Mr. Mohamad Hasan in Kuala Lumpur today. We reviewed the diverse pillars of the extensive bilateral defence engagement and discussed the roadmap for the 4th Decade of India-Malaysia Defence Cooperation," he said.

The defence ministry in New Delhi said on Saturday that Singh and Hasan will review defence cooperation between the two countries and explore new initiatives to further strengthen the engagements.

"India and Malaysia have a common interest in peace and prosperity of the entire region. The two democracies have a robust and multifaceted relationship which has expanded into several strategic areas, including defence and security," the ministry said.

"Both the countries are committed to work under the vision of enhanced strategic partnership established during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Malaysia in 2015," it said.

Malaysia is among a handful of countries showing keen interest in procuring India's indigenously developed Tejas aircraft.

Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.