Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the Indian community of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, said on Monday that India is considering setting up an exclusive university for People of Indian Origin.
India is also concluding a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia in education.
"The Indian government is considering several proposals to increase the number of seats available to Persons of Indian Origin in educational institutions in India," he said, adding that the feedback from PIOs world over on the initiative to set up a separate university has been extremely encouraging.
Manmohan Singh said he was happy to note that a significant proportion of practicing doctors and lawyers in Malaysia have obtained professional degrees from Indian universities.
"We will find new projects to replicate the successful twinning experiment between the Meleka-Manipal Medical Colleges," he said.
India, he said, was exploring the proposals to increase the number of seats available to PIOs in educational institutions in India. "The idea of establishing an exclusive PIO university is also being considered," the prime minister added.
He said: "The 'little Indus' that we see in so many towns in Malaysia are more than geographical spaces. They are repositories of the sentiment that links the people of Indian origin to the Motherland."
The prime minister said that India admires Malaysia's achievements. "We are proud that the India community here has contributed in no small measure."
Stating that Malaysian firms are now actively participating in the Indian economy, the prime minister said, "Our bilateral trade is growing satisfactorily."
India, the prime minister said, is on the move. "India is increasingly viewed as a land of opportunities, of new possibilities. Indians are viewed across the world as people who respect knowledge, creativity and enterprise."
The prime minister said that India's vibrant democracy and the well-established rule of law have provided a resilient base for steady economic growth with stability. "These are free India's biggest assets."
