Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives in Malaysia - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived here in the capital city of Malaysia on Tuesday evening after having spent three days in Japan, as part of his ongoing three-nation Asian tour. Dr.Singh was received here by Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Senator A. Kohilan Pillay, Minister for Human Resource and Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's office. Dr. Singh, during his stay (Oct.26 to 28) in Malaysia , will hold in-depth discussions with his Malaysian counterpart on all facets of bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest. The Indian Prime Minister’s other engagements here will include an audience with the King and Queen of Malaysia, launch of CEOs' Forum, Khazanah Global Lecture 2010, visit to 'Little India' and attending Indian community reception hosted by the High Commissioner. The two sides will sign a number of pacts and announce conclusion of negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which covers range of trade aspects, including investment, services and customs. The Indian Prime Minister is accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur and a high-level delegation. Two days ago in his departure statement, Prime Minister Dr. Singh had stated: "My visit to Malaysia will be my first bilateral visit to that country.Malaysia plays a key role in the ASEAN region. This follows the landmark visit of Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib to India in January 2010 and reflects the strong mutual desire for a qualitatively new partnership between the two countries. I will seek new areas of understanding with Prime Minister Najib that reinforce the rich bonds of history and culture that unite us. In today's unsettled world, it is all the more important for societies that are democratic, multi-religious and multicultural to work together. We share a special bond with Malaysia because it is home to one of the largest People of Indian Origin communities of over two million, and I look to forward to meeting some of them." "I expect my visit to lead to greater integration of our two economies and cooperation in the areas of infrastructure development, railways, knowledge industries, energy, defence and greater people-to-people exchanges. I have accepted Prime Minister Najib's invitation to deliver the Khazanah Global Lecture 2010 on India 's development experience," Dr.Singh stated.