Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said India and Malaysia are poised for closer cooperation drawing from their historical and cultural linkages besides the Indian diaspora here.
Mahajan, who is here to attend the 23rd Conference of the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, attended a reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner in her honour yesterday.
Among others, a large number of members of Indian diaspora were also present at the reception.
Referring to economic ties between the two countries, Mahajan said that India continues to be the fastest growing major economy in the world, with a growth rate of over 7 per cent. She noted that for Malaysian multi-national companies, India has always been a prime investment destination.
Malaysian companies have invested over USD 6 billion in India and have completed projects worth an additional USD 6 billion.
Several Malaysian companies are currently pursuing investments into India, especially in the areas of infrastructure such as road, ports, power, tourism and hospitality, Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Similarly, several Indian businesses are also bullish about Malaysia.
Mahajan observed that India and Malaysia are poised to considerably benefit from closer cooperation.
In fact, it is through Indian diaspora that the relations between India and Malaysia would gain strength.
"In whatever India does with Malaysia, the Indian diaspora would be a part of it," she said.
Mentioning that India's links with Malaysia are civilizational and historic, Mahajan referred to the fact that extensive trade and cultural links were forged between the Coromandel and Kalinga coast of ancient India and the Malay Peninsula over centuries, when this region was at the crossroads of trade and commerce.
The Great Pallava and Chola dynasties of Tamil Nadu left a large imprint on the Malay Peninsula going back to more than 10 to 15 centuries earlier. Remnants of their temples and other structures and their inscriptions have been excavated, particularly in Bujang valley in the State of Kedah, she said.
Soon these commercial and cultural links extended to many other parts of India, including the Malabar coast and Gujarat.
Later, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army drew their sustenance and strength from Malaya and many thousand Malaysian Indians came forward to support him in his quest for freeing India from its colonial masters, Mahajan said.
