PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will make a week-long official visit to India from March 30 to April 4.
This is at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
During his official visit, the prime minister is scheduled to visit Chennai, New Delhi and Jaipur.
This would be Najib’s third visit to India since assuming office as the prime minister in 2009.
The prime minister will be accompanied by his wife Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Cabinet ministers and senior government officials.
The visit underlines the strong bilateral relations which have been established for 60 years and will provide the opportunity for both Malaysia and India to exchange views on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
In New Delhi, Najib will be accorded an official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace, a Courtesy Call on the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee followed by a Restricted Meeting with his Indian counterpart and a Bilateral Meeting with senior members of both delegation.
A joint press conference will be held before the official dinner hosted by Modi in honour of Najib and Rosmah.
Issues that are expected to be discussed during the bilateral meeting include trade and investment, infrastructure projects, defence cooperation, air services arrangements, tourism and culture relations as well as issues of mutual concern on regional and international cooperation.
Several government-to-government memoranda of understanding and documents are set to be signed and exchanged during the visit.
The exchange of the documents will be witnessed by both leaders.
In addition to the bilateral meetings, Najib will be holding dialogue sessions with leaders and captains of industries from major business sectors in India.
Najib is also expected to attend a business luncheon and the 7th Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council Meeting (GSIAC).
In Chennai, the prime minister’s programme includes official reception hosted by the Acting Governor of Tamil Nadu, Vidhyasagar Rao and a meeting with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswamy.
The prime minister will also use this opportunity to have a dialogue session with the Malaysian community including the students.
He will also travel to Jaipur to oversee Malaysia’s participation in India’s infrastructure projects.
He is scheduled to meet with Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and attend a high-level discussion on the progress of Malaysian companies in infrastructure projects in the state capital Jaipur.
On the last day of the visit, the prime minister will also officiate the newly completed complex of the High Commission of Malaysia’s in New Delhi.
Malaysia is optimistic that this visit will further strengthen the existing friendly ties between Malaysia and India not only in the areas of bilateral cooperation but also on regional and international issues.