Emerging Dynamics in Contemporary India-Malaysia Relations

Abstract

The primary goal of this book is to capture the many facets of Malaysia-India bilateral relations from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Relations between these countries are significant because they have shared ethnoreligious and sociocultural bonds through trade, conquest, and migration for centuries. Hindu-Buddhist traditions have dominated the Malay world through government structures, ideas and philosophy, religious pursuits, and civilizational influences before the arrival of Islam in the 15th century. In the post-colonial period, India and Malaya (later Malaysia) established diplomatic relations in 1957 against the backdrop of an unstable world characterized by colonial baggage, rampant poverty, and geopolitical instability. Notwithstanding this, relations between the two countries have remained relatively close over the last 65 years, owing to the dynamic people-to-people connections, mutual history, and strong trade ties. Although there were several diplomatic spats between India and Malaysia, especially towards the end of Mahathir’s second administration, relations bounced back rather strongly due to strong trade interests. In this edited volume, the authors present and argue the dynamics in bilateral relations from the perspectives of contemporary economy and trade relations, people-to-people connection through tourism, security cooperation, ethnic identities, comparative religiosity, and revisiting the historical links between these countries.