India becoming trusted partner for growth: PM cites FTAs in Malaysia
Says New Delhi to soon extend UPI to Kuala Lumpur
Today, India is globally seen as a “trusted partner for growth”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his visit to Malaysia on Saturday. “Earlier, India was just seen as a huge market. Today, India is a trusted partner for growth,” the PM said, citing trade agreements and partnerships with various countries, including the US, the UK, the UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Oman and the European Union.
Addressing the Indian community in Kuala Lumpur, Modi said trust had become India’s “strongest currency”, which was reflected in the growing number of trade and strategic partnerships New Delhi has forged with major economies across the world.
Modi said India’s rapid economic and technological progress over the past decade had fundamentally altered its global standing. “In a decade, India has seen massive transformation. From being the 11th largest economy, we are now knocking on the doors of the top three. We are the fastest-growing major economy in the world,” he said.
Highlighting flagship initiatives, he said ‘Make in India’ had evolved from a “sapling” into a global manufacturing force, with India now the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer and the third-largest startup ecosystem globally. India has also built the world’s largest digital public infrastructure, with nearly half of all real-time digital transactions globally taking place through the UPI.
Modi highlighted that India’s growth had also been environmentally conscious. He said the country’s solar energy capacity had expanded nearly 40 times over the past decade.
Calling the Indian diaspora in Malaysia a “living bridge” between the two nations, Modi praised the role of the Indian-origin community in strengthening people-to-people ties. Malaysia is home to the second-largest Indian-origin population in the world.
On bilateral ties, Modi said India–Malaysia relations were scaling new heights, particularly after the two countries elevated ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ during Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to New Delhi in 2024. He further said the relationship was guided by the principle of “IMPACT” — India-Malaysia Partnership for Advancing Collective Transformation.
He highlighted expanding economic cooperation, and noted that Indian companies had contributed to Malaysia’s first and Asia’s largest insulin manufacturing facility, while over 100 Indian IT firms operate in the country, generating thousands of jobs. He announced that India’s UPI digital payments system would soon be extended to Malaysia.
