Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim visits India to reset ties, boost Brics membership bid

During its first prime minister-led delegation’s visit to India since 2018, Malaysia hopes to bolster ties with one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. India is the largest buyer of Malaysian palm oil and a key exporter of rice to the Southeast Asian nation.

The application to join Brics, which was submitted to the current chairman Russia, is aimed at cushioning a potential impact on Malaysia from the escalating US-China trade and tech war, analysts say.

Brics comprises founder members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, offering preferential trade and investment with countries covering 45 per cent of the world’s population.

Anwar’s three-day visit is also a chance to reset Malaysia’s relations with India, analysts say, following a hangover from a spat with New Delhi under a previous Malaysian administration and China increasingly dominating the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign policy space.

“It is bizarre that there has not been a prime ministerial visit [by Malaysia to India] for six years,” political analyst and Malaysia expert Adib Zalkapli said.

“The pandemic and the years of political uncertainty in Malaysia perhaps have distracted the government from important bilateral relations. Anwar’s visit reverses the benign neglect by the previous administrations.”

The visit marks the first top-level visit by a Malaysian leader since former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in 2019 accused India of having “invaded and occupied” Kashmir. His comments triggered a limited boycott of Malaysia’s palm oil – one of its biggest exports – by Indian traders.

India has been Malaysia’s top export market for its palm oil for 10 years running, buying 2.84