MoS V Muraleedharan to visit Brunei, Malaysia this week

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will visit Brunei and Malaysia from Tuesday to strengthen bilateral relations and reach out to the Indian diaspora in the two countries.During his two-day visit to Brunei Darussalam beginning Tuesday, Muraleedharan will meet the leadership in the nation and witness cultural performances organised by Indian Associations there as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will visit Brunei and Malaysia from Tuesday to strengthen bilateral relations and reach out to the Indian diaspora in the two countries.

During his two-day visit to Brunei Darussalam beginning Tuesday, Muraleedharan will meet the leadership in the nation and witness cultural performances organised by Indian Associations there as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. This is the first by any Indian minister since October 2019.

An estimated 14,000 Indians have made Brunei their home. In Malaysia, Muraleedharan will hold a bilateral meeting with Mohamad bin Alamin, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and V Sivakumar, Minister of Human Resources of the country.

This will be the first ministerial visit from India to Malaysia since the new government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim assumed office in November last year.

Muraleedharan will also take part in the inauguration of the first ever Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Day -Malaysia and launch the PIO International Festival to be held from June 2-4, a statement from the External Affairs Ministry said. The Minister will also address the Indian community and diaspora at the ‘Pravasiya Bharatiya Utsav’, it added.

With 2.75 million persons of Indian origin, Malaysia is home to the second largest PIO population in the world.

Muraleedharan will deliver a key-note address at an International Conference titled 'India-ASEAN Dynamics in the Emerging Indo-Pacific Order: Pathways to Cooperation beyond the Third Decade', organized by the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with Centre for ASEAN Regionalism University Malaya (CARUM) and Asia Europe Institute (AEI). The minister will also interact with leaders of Indian community associations and leading business associations of India and Malaysia.