Rajnath Singh on 3-day visit to Malaysia to boost bilateral defence ties

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

Singh is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with his Malaysian counterpart Dato' Seri Mohamad Hasan, besides calling on Prime Minister YB Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim.

"Delighted to arrive in the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur. Looking forward to my engagements with the political leadership of Malaysia, further strengthening of bilateral defence ties and Enhanced Strategic Partnership," Singh tweeted.

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.

On Saturday, the defence ministry said Singh and Hasani 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.