Modi’s Visit to Malaysia: Strategic Stakes Beyond Local Noise

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Malaysia should be understood as a strategic milestone rather than filtered through the prism of episodic domestic controversies. 

In a rapidly fragmenting global order, where middle powers must navigate between economic uncertainty, geopolitical rivalry, and regional security pressures, the Malaysia–India relationship has regained strategic relevance that extends well beyond day-to-day political noise.

This visit also marks a deliberate reset following a period when bilateral relations lost momentum. During Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s second premiership, ties between Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi became strained. Indian media narratives largely attributed this to Mahathir’s public criticism of India’s position on Kashmir. 

Within Malaysian corporate and diplomatic circles, however, there was a quieter interpretation—that the chill reflected accumulated elite grievances, including dissatisfaction over how the late Ananda Krishnan’s business interests were treated in India. 

Thaipusam: A Malaysian Celebration, Beyond Geography and Theology

One of the least understood facts about Thaipusam is also the most revealing: it is not widely celebrated in India, including Tamil Nadu, the cultural homeland of Lord Murugan. 

Outside India, Thaipusam finds significant expression only in Malaysia and Singapore—and even then, the contrast is telling. 

In Singapore, the celebration exists but is highly regulated, sanitised, and technocratically managed. In Malaysia, by contrast, Thaipusam has grown into something far larger: a deeply emotive, public, and unmistakably national cultural moment.

This alone should prompt reflection. How did a festival that is peripheral in its land of origin become so central here? The answer lies not merely in religion, but in history, migration, politics, and the uniquely Malaysian art of cultural adaptation.