The Hindu : Ties with Malaysia for e-governance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002

International

International

Ties with Malaysia for e-governance

By P.S. Suryanarayana

KUALA LUMPUR Sept. 25. India's economic diplomacy stayed on course today amid the latest political turbulence in New Delhi's foreign policy in the context of the poll-related terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and the gruesome violence at a temple in Gujarat. Signalling this reality, top officials of India and Malaysia began the third meeting of their Joint Commission here today.

While the event was entirely bilateral in scope, the interaction served to enhance New Delhi's preparations for the first ASEAN-India summit scheduled to be held in Cambodia in early November. As a premier member of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Malaysia plays a critical role in the organisation's external relations.

Following the formal session, the Malaysian officials and their Indian counterparts adjourned for late night informal consultations where political issues, too, were expected to be discussed.

The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, who is expected to arrive here tomorrow despite the current crisis on the Indian political front, will not only take part in the Malaysia-India Joint Commission meeting but also outline at an elite function New Delhi's foreign policy strategies and trends for the new millennium. Mr. Sinha's interventions would be watched here with unusual interest because of the approaching end-game in the ongoing electoral process in Jammu and Kashmir and in the context of the state of New Delhi's own preparations for the prospective ASEAN-India summit.

One important area of India's interest is ASEAN's own internal integration between the organisation's less developed members and their economically prosperous fellow-countries. In this sector too, Malaysia plays a prime mover and India's current meetings here will be promotive of its plans for interaction with the ASEAN for this purpose too.

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Ties with Malaysia for e-governance

An uneasy camaraderie?