The 2nd India-Malaysia Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on cooperation in the field of Public Administration and Governance Reforms was held in New Delhi on August 18, 2026. The meeting was co-chaired by Puneet Yadav, Additional Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), and Datuk Dr Mohd Bakhari bin Ismail, Deputy Director General of Public Service (Development), Malaysia. Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation in governance reforms, capacity building, and exchange of best practices.
MoU on Public Administration and Governance Reforms
The cooperation in public administration between India and Malaysia is anchored in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on August 20, 2024, during the state visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim to India. The MoU was exchanged between the Public Service Department director-general of Malaysia and India’s External Affairs Ministry secretary (east). It has a validity of five years and covers cooperation in administrative reforms, governance modernisation, capacity building, and exchange of best practices between the two nations.
The MoU was part of a broader elevation of India-Malaysia bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the same visit. The relationship had previously been an Enhanced Strategic Partnership since 2015. Eight MoUs were exchanged during the August 2024 visit, spanning areas such as digital technologies, tourism, culture, youth and sports, and financial services. Prime Minister Narendra Modi subsequently visited Malaysia on February 7 to 8, 2026, providing further momentum to bilateral cooperation across all domains.
The nodal agencies driving this cooperation from the Indian side are the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG). DARPG, established in 1964 and placed under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, is the Government of India’s nodal agency for administrative reforms and redressal of public grievances. NCGG, set up in 2014 as an autonomous apex institution under the same ministry, traces its origins to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR), which was established in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA).
Key Areas of Cooperation Discussed
The JWG meeting reviewed progress made since its inaugural meeting held on November 13, 2024. The minutes of the first meeting were confirmed and adopted, and Points of Contact from both sides were designated to facilitate coordination and implementation of agreed initiatives. Senior officials from DARPG, the Ministry of External Affairs (including the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur), and NCGG participated from the Indian side.
Capacity Building Under ITEC
A significant portion of the discussions focused on capacity-building cooperation under India’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. Launched in 1964 and administered by the Ministry of External Affairs, ITEC is one of the world’s oldest institutionalised international capacity-building platforms, having trained over 200,000 officials from more than 160 countries. Malaysia provided positive feedback on the academic modules, institutional and field visits, programme coordination, and hospitality extended to participants. The proposed capacity-building programmes for the 2026 and 2027 cohorts were also discussed, with Malaysia welcoming India’s proposal to explore specialised programmes for senior Malaysian officials.
During the elevation to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in August 2024, India had announced 100 special ITEC slots for Malaysian nationals over and above the regular 40 annual slots, in emerging domains such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. An additional 100 ITEC slots were offered for mid-level civil servants from Malaysia at NCGG in good governance and digital governance-related curated programmes.
Exchange on Digital Governance and Modernisation
The meeting featured an exchange of experiences on public-sector modernisation and governance reforms. Malaysia outlined its approach to public-sector transformation based on the People, Process, and Technology framework, with innovation identified as a key enabler. Discussions covered digital government, artificial intelligence, cloud services, shared digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, blockchain, data-driven decision-making, and connected government. Both sides emphasised the importance of using technology to deliver simpler, faster, and more citizen-centric public services.
India showcased its experience with the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), described as a 24x7 digital platform for citizen grievance redressal. CPGRAMS, which has evolved since 2007, connects all Central Government Ministries, Departments, and Organisations as well as State Governments. The platform now receives more than 25 lakh grievances every year, making it one of the largest citizen grievance management systems globally. The Indian side also highlighted Samadhan Didi, an AI-enabled voice chatbot launched on May 30, 2026, which enables citizens to register grievances by speaking in their preferred language without needing to identify the relevant ministry or department. Developed by DARPG in collaboration with Bhashini, the chatbot currently supports all 22 scheduled Indian languages.
The Way Forward
Malaysia presented the Action Plan for the Malaysia-India Governance Partnership: 2027-2029 Strategic Roadmap at the meeting. The roadmap aims to establish a governance and implementation framework and create a three-year plan for cooperation under the existing MoU. Both sides appreciated the support extended by DARPG, NCGG, and the High Commission of India, and agreed to identify concrete, practical, and outcome-oriented areas for cooperation.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to deepen institutional engagement, knowledge sharing, and capacity building to strengthen public institutions, improve public service delivery, and enhance citizen experience. The expanded India-Malaysia governance partnership is expected to strengthen institutional capacity, digital public services, and citizen-centric administration through sustained knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Key Takeaways
- The 2nd India-Malaysia Joint Working Group meeting on Public Administration and Governance Reforms was held in New Delhi on August 18, 2026, co-chaired by DARPG Additional Secretary Puneet Yadav and Malaysia’s Deputy Director General of Public Service Datuk Dr Mohd Bakhari bin Ismail.
- The cooperation is anchored in an MoU signed on August 20, 2024, during Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim’s state visit, with a validity of five years.
- The MoU was signed as part of the elevation of India-Malaysia ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in August 2024, replacing the Enhanced Strategic Partnership in place since 2015.
- DARPG (established 1964) and NCGG (established 2014) are the nodal agencies driving this cooperation from the Indian side.
- India’s ITEC programme, instituted in 1964, has trained over 200,000 officials from more than 160 countries and is the flagship capacity-building platform of the Ministry of External Affairs.
- Malaysia presented the Malaysia-India Governance Partnership: 2027-2029 Strategic Roadmap, a three-year action plan for cooperation under the MoU.
