New Delhi: Minister of State (MOS) for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan will pay an official visit to Brunei and Malaysia from May 30-June 2.

MOS would interact with the Indian Diaspora members in Brunei during his stay there. It is estimated that over 14,000 Indians have made Brunei their home. The Indian Associations in Brunei will host cultural performances in MOS as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) celebrations, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official release.

The MoS will kickstart his Brunei visit on May 30-31. From Brunei, he will embark on an official visit to Malaysia from June 1-2.

The MOS will be travelling to Brunei for the first time, and it will also be the first Ministerial visit from India to the country since October 2019.

According to the official release of MEA, on his visit to Malaysia, the MoS will have a private meeting with Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Datuk Mohamad bin Alamin. The Malaysian Minister of Human Resources, V. Sivakumar, will also meet with the MOS.

MOS will take part in the inauguration of the first-ever Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Day -Malaysia (Aprawasi Diwas) and will launch the PIO International Festival to be held from 2-4 June 2023.

He will address the Indian community and diaspora at the 'Pravasiya Bharatiya Utsav'. With 2.75 million PIOs, Malaysia is home to the second-largest PIO population in the world.

MOS will also deliver a key-note address at an International Conference titled "India-ASEAN Dynamics in the Emerging Indo-Pacific Order: Pathways to Cooperation beyond the Third Decade", organized by the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with the Centre for ASEAN Regionalism University Malaya (CARUM) and Asia Europe Institute (AEI), the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Furthermore, he will also interact with leaders of Indian community associations and leading business associations in India and Malaysia. Following the creation of a new Malaysian government in November 2022, this is the first ministerial visit from India to the country.