BANGKOK, March 15 — Malaysia and Thailand will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the issue of people holding dual citizenship, says Thai Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan.

Prawit, who is also defence minister, said officials from both countries were still ironing out the finer details of the MoU.

"We will sign an MoU on dual citizenship, the authorities (from both sides) are working on the matter,” he said after jointly chairing the 54th Malaysia-Thailand General Border Committee (GBC) meeting with Malaysia’s Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein here today.

Prawit added he had no knowledge of the exact date of the MoU signing by both countries but applauded the officials from both sides for working hard to resolve issues pertaining to dual citizenship.

Thai authorities have long claimed people who held both Malaysian and Thai citizenships were responsible for acts of violence related to the conflict in southern Thailand and wanted the issue to be resolved.

For Malaysia, it wanted Thailand to furnish details about those it claimed to be holding dual Malaysia-Thailand citizenship, including their biometric records.

On other cooperation by both neighbouring countries, Prawit, who is also responsible for internal security, said they exchanged information on issues related to terrorism while maintaining there was no information indicating Islamic State (IS) activities in Thailand.

"We don’t have IS in the country, we already told them (Malaysia) but we have exchanged information, (on terrorism),” he added.

The meeting which was attended by senior security officials from both countries, including the army, police and National Security Council, also discussed issues pertaining to border management, transnational crime and illegal entry of people.

Prawit said officials also discussed issues related to the construction of border fence.

In a statement released by Thailand after the meeting, it said both countries agreed to formulate a doctrine related to humanitarian and disaster mitigation assistance operations.

It said both sides also proposed the next joint disaster relief exercise focus on the deployment of military officers in humanitarian operations and also proposed the exercise to extend invitations to other ASEAN countries as observers.

Among those attending the GBC meeting were Malaysia’s Army Chief Tan Sri Zulkiple Kassim, Bukit Aman’s Internal Security and Public Order Director Datuk Seri Zulkifli Abdullah and Thailand’s National Police Chief, Gen Chakthip Chaijinda.

Hishammuddin also made a courtesy call on Thailand's Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha at his office after the meeting.

The 55th GBC meeting will be held in Kuala Lumpur next year. — Bernama