PETALING JAYA • In an apparent effort to strengthen bilateral ties, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tweeted in Malay about his meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad.

"Telah mengadakan pertemuan yang baik dengan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Perdana Menteri Malaysia," Mr Modi wrote in Malay on Twitter on Thursday. The message translates as: "Had a great meeting with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia."

He added in Malay: "We talked about bilateral ties between our nations and ways to further diversify cooperation."

He then tweeted the message in English and tagged Dr Mahathir's Twitter account @chedetofficial.

Mr Modi has previously tweeted in the language of a leader's native country after holding official meetings with them. He tweeted in Japanese after meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and in Russian after meeting President Vladimir Putin.

Dr Mahathir and Mr Modi were in Vladivostok, Russia, attending the three-day Eastern Economic Forum, which ended yesterday. This was their second meeting since the Pakatan Harapan coalition took federal power in Malaysia's elections last year.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK