Kuala Lumpur - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Malaysia Wednesday for talks aimed at easing rising strains between the two South-East Asian neighbours. Yudhoyono, who received a grand state welcome at Parliament and held an audience with Malaysia's King Mizan Zainal Abidin, is due to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday.
The issues of migrant workers, maritime borders and anti-terrorism efforts are expected to be high on the agenda.
Apart from strong ethnic and cultural ties, Malaysia is home to hundreds of thousands of Indonesian migrants, both legal and illegal.
However, the relationship between the two nations has been strained recently due to frequent abuse of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia.
Jakarta has temporarily banned sending its workers to Malaysia until labour laws are amended to protect the maids, most of whom currently work without getting days off and are not allowed to keep their passports.
Relations were further damaged when an Indonesian group known as Bendera threatened to launch an attack on Malaysia last month to avenge all of its alleged wrongdoings.
While the attack did not materialize, the negative effects of its coverage were enough to prompt Jakarta to deny any links with the group.
Yudhoyono's visit to Malaysia, his first official trip abroad since taking the oath of office for a second term last month, has been hailed as a hopeful sign of warming ties between the two countries.
Yudhoyono is due to leave Kuala Lumpur after the talks and head for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore.
