India, Malaysia Hold 2nd Governance Working Group Meeting
Both countries reaffirm commitment to deepen cooperation in governance reforms, digital public services and capacity building
- India and Malaysia held the 2nd Joint Working Group meeting on governance reforms.
- Both sides reaffirmed cooperation in public administration and capacity building.
- Discussions focused on digital governance, AI and citizen-centric public services.
- Malaysia proposed a 2027–2029 governance partnership roadmap.
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 20th Dec: India and Malaysia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in public administration, governance reforms, capacity building and the exchange of best practices during the 2nd India–Malaysia Joint Working Group (JWG) Meeting on cooperation in the field of public administration and governance reforms.
The meeting, held on August 18, was co-chaired by Puneet Yadav, Additional Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), and Datuk Dr. Mohd Bakhari bin Ismail, Deputy Director General of Public Service (Development), Malaysia.
Welcoming the Malaysian delegation, Puneet Yadav highlighted the longstanding relationship between the two countries and noted that bilateral ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in August 2024. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Malaysia in February 2026 had further strengthened cooperation between the two nations.
The Joint Working Group reviewed progress made since its inaugural meeting in November 2024 and confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting. Both sides also designated Points of Contact to facilitate implementation of agreed initiatives.
Discussions focused on expanding capacity-building programmes under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiative. The Malaysian delegation appreciated the academic modules, institutional visits and programme coordination, while also expressing interest in specialised training programmes for senior Malaysian officials.
The meeting featured extensive discussions on public sector modernisation, with Malaysia outlining its governance transformation model based on People, Process and Technology, supported by innovation. Key areas of discussion included digital government, artificial intelligence, cloud services, cybersecurity, blockchain, data-driven governance and connected government.
The Indian delegation showcased the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), describing it as the world’s largest 24×7 digital grievance redressal platform. India also highlighted ‘Samadhan Didi’, the AI-enabled multilingual voice chatbot launched in May 2026 to make grievance redressal more accessible, transparent and citizen-centric.
Malaysia also presented its proposed Malaysia–India Governance Partnership: 2027–2029 Strategic Roadmap, outlining a framework for implementing cooperation under the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding.
Both countries agreed to identify practical, outcome-oriented areas of collaboration and reiterated their commitment to strengthening institutional engagement, knowledge sharing and capacity building to improve public service delivery and enhance citizen experience.
