India signed a bi-lateral labour mobility agreement with Malaysia on Sunday. The deal was signed by overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi and Malaysian Human resources minister Dr. S Subramaniam in Delhi.

The agreement would help to develop efficient mechanism for legal immigration and recruitment of workforce. It would also control human trafficking by agents. According to estimates, about 1.5 million Indian workers are working in Malaysia.

A Joint Working Group of officials from both countries has also been formed to implement the terms and conditions of deal in better spirit. It would meet every year to review the administrative progress of agreement.
 
Commenting on the deal, Malaysia's Minister for Human Resource, Dr. N S Subramanian said, "With this agreement, we hope to improve the conditions of the existing workers and bring them under the prevailing labor laws and social security net of the country. We will allow orderly recruitment of workers between India and Malaysia based on these mutually-accepted principles."
 
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Mr. Vyalar Ravi also hailed the deal and said that it would provide a fair deal to recruits and trained workers for better career prospectus. He added, "There is scope for enhancing pre-departure and orientation training for workers also in the agreement. The agreement will also check unscrupulous agents."

Government may also announce a slew of measures for NRIs at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas scheduled in Chennai between January 7 & 9.