Malaysia to allow visa-free entry to Indian, Chinese tourists

Following in the footsteps of Sri Lanka and Thailand, the Malaysian government has decided to waive off visa requirement for a period of 30 days for Indian and Chinese citizens visiting the country from December 1.

Making the announcement on Sunday (November 26), Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the new rules will allow Indians tourists and visitors to stay in Malaysia without visa for a period of 30 days. He, however, said their entry will be allowed after a thorough security screening.

The move is aimed at giving an extra boost to the tourism industry of the country which in turn will help the economy grow. Incidentally, Indians and Chinese form a huge chunk of tourists visiting Malaysia.

The Ibrahim government in October had said that it plans to improve visa facilities from next year to encourage the entry of tourists and investors, mostly from India and China.

As per government data, of the 9.16 tourist footfalls in Malaysia between January and June this year, 283885 were from India and 498540 from China.

India-Malaysia ties

The decision also comes a day after the Indian envoy to Malaysia termed the ties between both the countries “very precious”. “

“To put it in a nutshell, Malaysia has the second largest Indian-origin community. I would say there is a mini-India here. Even though Tamil speakers are the largest, you also have the Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Odia-speaking people, which provides a natural bridge for us to engage with Malaysia more deeply," India’s High Commissioner to Malaysia B N Reddy said, referring to a 2.9-million-strong overseas Indian community in the country (2.75 million PIOs and 0.16 million NRIs).

In 2022, India was Malaysia's 11th largest trading partner with total trade amounting to RM 86.22 billion (USD 19.63 billion), an increase of 23.6 per cent compared to the recorded value in 2021.

In July, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Kuala Lumpur during which both sides approved an amendment in the memorandum of understanding on India-Malaysia defence cooperation signed in 1993. During his visit, Singh inaugurated the regional office of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Kuala Lumpur to facilitate close defence industrial collaboration between India and Malaysia. While the two countries conducted three joint military exercises last year in which 600 personnel from Indian armed forces participated, talks are also underway to explore new initiatives to further strengthen the engagements.

Malaysia is also among a handful of countries that showed keen interest in procuring India's indigenously developed Tejas aircraft - a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.

Where else can Indians travel visa-free?

Thailand recently announced visa-free stay for tourists from India and Taiwan for a period of six months, between November 10 this year and May 10, 2024.

Sri Lanka too will allow visa-free travel to visitors from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand till March 31, 2024.

While Vietnam has already made visa-free travel functional for residents from France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Finland, it is planning to extend the same to Indians and Chinese soon.

It also offers e-visas with a 90-day validity for visitors from other countries.