INDIA. Mumbai: An eight-member Malaysian delegation led by Mohd Yani Bin Daud, Deputy Secretary General (Policy), visited Mumbai as part of the 12th India – Malaysia Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM) early this week.
The members of the delegation who were here on Tuesday and Wednesday called on Indian Navy officers and interacted with them on different issues. Mohd Yani Bin Daud interacted with Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command (WNC) and discussed bilateral issues of mutual interest centred on enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries with a specific focus on Navy-to-Navy cooperation, according to an official statement.
During the visit to the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, Daud interacted with Rear Admiral DK Goswami, Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard and visited the Heritage Museum, wherein the rich maritime history of the Indian ship-building industry was displayed. A visit to the Kalvari Class conventional attack submarine, “INS Khanderi”, was also facilitated.
The delegation also visited Mazgaon Docks Limited and was given a tour of the indigenous ship-building capabilities of the defence shipyard, including a visit to under construction stealth guided missile frigate “Nilgiri”. The delegation was engaged by senior functionaries of the shipyard to provide an overview of the ship-building process and various interconnected requirements.
Malaysia hosts the second largest Indian overseas diaspora (2.75 million), and India – Malaysia have established close political, economic and socio-cultural relations. During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, the India – Malaysia relationship was upgraded to Enhanced Strategic Partnership, and the year 2023 marks the 66th year of bilateral relationships between the two countries.
Bilateral cooperation between the Indian Navy and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) spans across a wide canvass ranging from training to operations. Both Navies concluded the Bilateral Exercise “Samudra Laksamana” in May 2022 and the Navy to-Navy Staff Talks in June 2022. RMN Ship KD Lekiu and a high-level delegation had earlier participated in MILAN hosted by the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam in February 2022.
Chief of Royal Malaysian Navy Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Bin Mohd Sany visited India at the invitation of Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy Admiral R Hari Kumar, in August last year. Adm Mohd Reza himself is an alumnus of INS Dronacharya, the premier Gunnery Training Establishment of the Indian Navy, at Kochi (Kerala), from where he graduated as a Gunnery Specialist back in 1990.
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