India and Malaysia to jointly fight Isis says Najib Razak

India and Malaysia have agreed to fight the Islamic State (Isis) and extremism. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is visiting India, said: "Malaysia and India will cooperate to fight the IS and deal with radicalisation. We will also share our experience of de-radicalisation with India. We plan to hold a major conference on de-radicalisation jointly."

Security-related matters topped the agenda of Razak during his talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The two sides signed seven agreements on air services, sports, human resources, palm oil production and research, and technological development, on Saturday, 1 April. India will also build a fertiliser plant in Malaysia.

Modi said: "I deeply appreciate our continuous cooperation with the Malaysian government in our joint anti-terrorism efforts. We live in a time and in a region where both conventional and non-conventional security threats are constantly on the rise."

Though there have been no credible reports of Isis gaining any kind of traction in India, home to an estimated Muslim population of 172 million, the security establishment in New Delhi has been maintaining heightened vigilance. Minor incidents, including a recent attack on a passenger train, have reportedly been claimed by Isis-linked militants with little substantiation.

The situation is slightly more complicated in Malaysia where authorities have made several arrests of Isis-linked suspects in recent months.

Razak said Malaysia-India ties are at a "historic high", making it easy to take counter-terror measures.

Razak also called for increasing maritime cooperation with India, especially at a time when both Malaysia and India insist on greater freedom of navigation in south-east Asia where Beijing has been aggressively asserting itself. "We appreciate the greater role of India in the maritime security of the Asia-Pacific region," said Razak.