‘Analogous’ security challenges: India chooses Malaysia for defence cooperation hub in region

CITING similar security challenges, India has chosen Malaysia to be its hub for defence industrial collaboration in the region.

Indian High Commissioner BN Reddy said that this involves focussing his country’s public-sector defence undertakings in Malaysia with a mandate for Southeast Asia.

He hailed the enhanced defence cooperation between both countries as being the result of years of concerted efforts – including high-level delegation visits, service level staff talks, exercises, conducting of courses in each other’s training establishments, and defence industry interactions.

The new regional office of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s premier aerospace and defence company, is serving this purpose.

The office in Kuala Lumpur was inaugurated by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during his visit to Malaysia in July last year.

Singh had then held fruitful meetings with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, as well as then defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (now foreign minister)

“We face analogous security challenges in the region,” Reddy said at the opening of the Mini Defence Expo cum Defence Industry Symposium organised by the high commission in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Also present was Datuk Seri Isham Ishak, secretary-general of Malaysia’s Ministry of Defence (Mindef).

The event was held in coordination with Mindef’s Defence Industry Division, as well as the Department of Defence Production of India’s Ministry of Defence.

Joint exercises

Reddy noted that a mid-term review of Malaysia’s Defence White Paper was undertaken earlier this month.

The priorities identified were in cyber security, drone technologies, utilising big data and artificial intelligence for threat monitoring.

He said Indian companies have made rapid progress in these areas, thus providing good opportunities for bilateral defence industry engagement.

He also stressed that Malaysia is an important country for India’s ‘Act East’ policy.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Malaysia in 2015 saw bilateral relations elevated to the status of ‘Enhanced Strategic Partnership’, with defence cooperation stated as a key pillar.

“Our bilateral defence ties are on a robust trajectory,” Reddy said.

“For the first time we conducted all three bilateral service exercises in the same calendar year,” he said, referring to the Samudra Laksamana naval exercise, the Harimau Shakti army exercise, and the Udara Shakti which was the two militaries’ first-ever air exercise.

Over 600 Indian armed forces personnel visited Malaysia for these exercises in the 2022-23 period.

“Also, an 80-member Royal Malaysian Army contingent completed the army exercise in India in November last year,” he added.

Defence companies

The expo and symposium held on February 22 was billed as an attempt to tap into the huge potential for cooperation between the defence industries of the two countries, with the aim of bringing together defence companies, government agencies, armed forces reps and think tanks on one common platform.

It included the participation of a 25-member defence industry delegation from India led by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).

The Indian delegation comprised a total of 18 companies represented by 26 officials from both government and private sector. The companies represented a spectrum of defence sub-sectors, including aerospace, shipbuilding, electronics, communication, surveillance, ammunition, and protective gears.

On the other hand, the Malaysian side was represented by 19 defence companies engaged in telecommunications, surveillance, MRO services, avionics, electronics and so on.

Reddy said that since the first edition of the event was held in February last year, the defence establishments of India and Malaysia have made considerable progress in industrial collaboration.

30 years since defence MOU

Rajnath Singh’s visit to Malaysia in July last year was followed by a meeting of the Malaysia-India Defence Committee (Midcom) in September, at the level of the defence secretary of India and secretary-general of Mindef.

“In fact, the interaction between the defence industries of Malaysia and India has been institutionalised under the Midcom,” said Reddy.

He also noted that an agreement was reached by the tenth Joint Sub Committee on Defence Science, Technology and Industry Cooperation (JSDSTIC) in New Delhi last September to enhance cooperation by subscribing to specific industry-oriented courses in India and cross-visits by high-level delegations to each other’s defence industries.

Reddy pointed out that defence cooperation between the two countries has entered its fourth decade since the signing of a bilateral defence MOU in 1993.

“Our collaboration under the ADMM Plus (Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus) provides an additional forum for closer defence engagement, keeping in view the regional defence and security dimensions,” he added.

The two countries are also expecting to see the formalising of engagements between Malaysia’s Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence (Stride) and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) later this year. – The Vibes, February 26, 2024