Modi in Malaysia: Highlights Of India PM's Visit

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The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was personally welcomed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) runway during his official visit here on 7 February.

Modi received a formal welcome that checked all the boxes — a red carpet rolled out, royal guards, and a cultural performance before even stepping away from the airport.

It was all smiles and handshakes as Anwar and the Indian PM look forward to discuss trade, defence, technology and strengtheninig bilateral ties between the two nations.

A dazzling cultural performance to welcome Modi

Modi was treated to a grand performance on the first day of his visit: A traditional folk dance concert that involved 800 dancers performing several classical dance forms from India.

Anwar said in a Facebook post that the meeting is a reminder of Malaysia and India’s relationship as not only being based on official agreements, but also deeply rooted in history, culture and friendship that has been built over decades.

“The Indian community is an important part of nation-building, with contributions that transcend various fields and are a pillar of the harmony and progress of Malaysia’s diverse society,” he said.

Anwar added that the bilateral ties between Malaysia and India continues to be strengthened through meaningful cooperation in the field of economy, digital, technology, and people-to-people ties in line with the aspiration building up both nations.

India and Malaysia signed 11 MoUs covering various sectors

Anwar and Modi witnessed the exhange of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Sunday (8 February) which covered multiple different sectors of cooperation between the two countries.

According to Bernama, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar exchanged three MoUs between the two governments on cooperation in disaster management, combating and preventing corruption, and audio-visual co-production.

Other documents included were:

Earlier the same day, both country leaders held a four-eyed meeting focused on further strengthening Malaysia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

The discussions covered cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, labour, tourism, connectivity, agriculture and education, as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Modi introduces India’s payment system to Malaysia

Modi said during his visit that India’s Unified Payment System (UPI) will soon be introduced in Malaysia, Malay Mail reported.

UPI is a real-time digital payment system that enables peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions directly between bank accounts using mobile phones.

Payments can be made through a Virtual Payment Address (VPA), QR codes or mobile numbers without the need to share bank account details, and are secured with two-factor authentication.

As of 2025, UPI is the world’s largest retail fast-payment system by volume, handling more than 640 million transactions daily and surpassing global platforms such as Visa.

New Indian consulate to be built in Kota Kinabalu

Anwar welcomed India’s decision to open a new consulate in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, as announced by Modi during his two-day visit here.

“As a sign of our good relations, I have agreed to support the decision of the Government of India to open a consulate of India in Kota Kinabalu,” he said.

Bernama reported that the consulate is expected to facilitate closer engagement in trade, investment, tourism, education and cultural exchanges while also enhancing support for the Indian community and businesses operating in Sabah and around the region.

Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the opening of the consulate will strengthen ongoing cooperation between India and Malaysia and expand India’s outreach to the Indian community in Malaysia.

To further strengthen ties with Malaysia, Modi also announced scholarships for Malaysians students of Indian origin who wish to study in India, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards eligibility extended up to the sixth generation, and youth exchanges.

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