Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s popularity has been falling like nine pins. Despite the pressure from local media and his allies to develop closer relations with India, Mahathir time and again has gone on an anti-India rhetoric and commented on the country’s internal matters. India expectedly has hit back at Malaysia by moving to restrict the palm oil imports from Malaysia — a move which will have a devastating impact on Malaysia’s economy. Malaysian MP Karupaiya Muthusamy who is on a visit to India has effectively disowned Mahathir.
The Malaysian MP, who is part of the ruling coalition, in an exclusive interaction with Zee Media said, ”We should not get involved in the internal affairs of any country. Whatever our PM Mahathir Bin Mohamad said on Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370 is his own thinking, but the rest of Malaysia’s leaders and the public want closer relations with India.”
Karupaiya Muthusamy said these things at a time when preparations for India to be sideline Malaysia have started. Preparations have been started to completely eliminate palm oil imports from Malaysia. He added that there are some misunderstandings between the two countries, but the Prime Minister of both countries can sit down and remove it. The Malaysian MP further said that, “We feel that our PM may have been given wrong information about India, which is why he is saying so. PM Narendra Modi and our Prime Minister should sit together, all the problems will end.”
Along with this, he commented on the issue of Zakir Naik saying that Naik should be deported. “We are also constantly demanding this. Malaysians are saddened by the deteriorating relations between India and Malaysia. He expressed hope that the relationship will improve in the coming days. Malaysia can get a new Prime Minister in a few days. India’s relations with the new Prime Minister will improve”, said Muthusamy.
After refined palm oil, the government is looking to further step up the heat on Malaysia with a plan to restrict the import of microprocessors as the trade tensions between the two countries are unlikely to ease as Mahathir continues to rant over Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act, reports the Times of India.
Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad’s determination to speak out on India’s internal issues has seen the Modi government working on imposing technical standards on microprocessors and also putting in place a quality control order for telecom equipment. Customs authorities have been asked to ensure compliance of the quality control order as part of efforts to restrict the entry of Malaysian equipment into India, in what is probably the first trade retaliation by India against a country’s political stance.
Mahathir himself acknowledged that he is worried over India’s move to restrict Malaysian imports but would continue to speak out against “wrong things”. The Malaysian stock market doesn’t share the same views as Mahathir as Malaysian palm oil futures fell by 2.8%, the highest in 8 months on Tuesday. Apart from Mohamad’s comments on Kashmir and CAA, Indian authorities are upset with Malaysia’s reluctance to extradite controversial preacher Zakir Naik, prompting the government to hit back on the trade front.
Malaysia’s economy heavily depends on its palm oil exports to India. Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India’s total edible oil imports. India buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, followed by Malaysia. Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysian economy as it accounts for 2.8% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product and 4.5% of total exports. Since the shipments have already been contracted for the moths of January and February, Malaysia will feel the heat from March onwards as Indonesia’s exports will rise.
It seems that even Mahathir’s own allies have given up hope on him mending his ways and are hoping that the new Malaysian Prime Minister improves the relations between the two countries.