KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — UK Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to discuss in his trip to Malaysia and Indonesia next week, how the UK can help both Southeast Asian countries tackle the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

British news website BBC News reported today that Cameron is “keen to explore” whether the UK can offer more practical counter-terrorism support to Malaysia and Indonesia, like improving aviation security, investigating potential terror plots and disrupting foreign fighters, amid increasing concern that IS’ next branch could start in the region.

“All of us face a threat from foreign fighters and from increasing radicalisation within our countries and its right that we look at what help we can provide to one another,” Cameron was quoted saying before his departure for Indonesia.

Malaysian opposition lawmakers have slammed Cameron’s plan to visit Malaysia and to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his Southeast Asia tour amid the controversy surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state-owned fund which is under investigation for corruption allegations involving Najib.

UK business paper Financial Times reported Friday PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is Lembah Pantai MP, as saying that she feared Cameron’s visit would “send a negative perception” that the UK government was not concerned about “the current scandal-ridden ground on which Najib treads”.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua, who is Petaling Jaya Utara MP, was quoted saying that any support that Cameron shows towards Najib will “taint (the) UK’s international reputation as a country which supports democratic principles and good governance”.

BBC reported today that Cameron is also planning to learn from Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s work in combatting extremist ideology and to explore whether the UK can incorporate some lessons.

The British prime minister’s four-day trip next week, in which he will head to Indonesia before Malaysia, is mainly intended to boost trade with the UK, according to the BBC.

The police arrested earlier this month two Malaysians believed to be linked to the IS terror group over suspected plots to attack several key areas, including entertainment spots, in the Klang Valley, in a series of arrests of militant suspects.

There were 154 Malaysian members of IS as of May 7 this year, according to the Home Ministry in a parliamentary reply last May.