India on Sunday put on hold its search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, at the request of the government in Kuala Lumpur, which wants to reassess the week-old hunt for the Boeing 777 that is now suspected of being hijacked.

A spokesman for the country's Eastern Naval Command Commander Babu said, India had been searching in two areas, one around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and a second further west in the Bay of Bengal.

Both searches have been suspended. He said, Malaysian authorities are reassessing the situation and will figure whether they need to shift the area of search.