Why tension increased in India and Malaysia?

 16 Jan 2020 ( News Bureau )
POSTER

The impasse that began in Malaysia and India first over Kashmir and later NRC-CAA seems to be growing.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad had strongly criticized India for ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and the NRC-CAA.

After this, India almost banned palm oil imports from Malaysia in response. Malaysia has expressed concern about this attitude of India but Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has once again said that even though his country has to suffer financial losses, he will continue to speak against 'wrong things'.

India is the largest importer of edible oil. According to the news agency Reuters, Indian businessmen have effectively stopped the import of refined palm oil from Malaysia since last week. Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer and exporter in the world after Indonesia.

In recent times, Mahathir has fiercely targeted both India and Saudi Arabia. When India ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Mahathir Mohammad said that India has attacked Kashmir and kept it in its possession.

Malaysia's palm oil refinery is going to suffer major damage by stopping India's imports. Mahathir has said that his government will come up with a solution.

Mahathir told reporters, "We are worried about this because India has been a big buyer of our palm oil. But on the other hand if something is going wrong then we need to be clear. We will call wrong as wrong. If we see the benefits and let them go wrong then many things will go in the wrong direction. Then we will also start doing wrong and will tolerate the rest. ''

According to Reuters, the palm oil delivery contract for India for the month of March has come down to 0.9%. The Indian government had informally ordered traders to stay away from Malaysia's palm oil purchases. Indian businessmen are now buying palm oil at a price of $ 10 more per tonne than Indonesia for Malaysia.

India's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the purchase of palm oil cannot be linked to any particular country. The Ministry of External Affairs had said that any kind of business depends on the relations of the two countries and on this basis, trade relations are also formed.

India was the biggest buyer of Malaysia's palm oil in 2019. In 2019, India bought 40.4 lakh tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia. Indian businessmen say that if the relations between the two countries do not improve, India's palm oil imports from Malaysia will fall below 1 million tonnes in 2020.

Malaysian officials say that this stance of India will cause heavy damage to Malaysia. Malaysia is trying to make up for the loss with Pakistan, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria and Jordan.

But it is being said that the removal of the top importer is not easy to compensate. In such a situation, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, which also includes the palm workers, has urged that the matter be resolved by negotiating with India.

The Malaysian Trade Union Congress has said in its statement, "We urge both governments to find a solution keeping aside private and diplomatic importance".

Malaysia's Ministry of Primary Industries, which works under the Ministry of External Affairs, has said that efforts are being made to talk to India to resolve the issue.

Mahathir Mohammad has been the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and in 2018 he was once again elected PM. Pakistan and Malaysia have come close after being re-elected.

Malaysia is now trying to compensate for this after purchasing palm oil in India. Malaysia's Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said on Sunday, "Pakistan is a regular buyer of our palm oil and is dependent on us."

Coke also met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's Commerce, Textile, Industry, Production and Investment Adviser Abdul Razzaq Dawood on an official visit to Pakistan.

"In 2018, Pakistan imported 10.16 lakh tonnes of palm oil," it said in a statement issued by Malaysia's Ministry of Primary Industries. The business was worth $ 730 million. We are seeking to increase imports from Pakistan. ''

Dr Oh E Sun, a political analyst at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs on the conflict in India and Malaysia, told Arab News, "The deadlock will only worsen the bilateral relations between the two countries." The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed, was speaking out against Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act and India's ban on palm oil is being seen as a retaliation.

The Modi government wanted to bring Islamic scholar Zakir Naik to India, but he is still in Malaysia. Mahathir did not help Zakir Naik's case either. Dr. Oh says that India was a big buyer of Malaysia's palm oil and its removal will have a bad impact on Malaysia's palm oil industry.

Palm oil accounts for two-thirds of the food oils used in India. India imports 9 million tonnes of palm oil every year and is mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia.

"There has been a good relationship between Malaysia and Pakistan for a long time," said Ravichandran Dakshinamurthy, an expert on strategic studies at the National University of Malaysia from the South China Morning Post. After Malaysia's independence in 1957, Pakistan was one of the countries that first recognized it as a sovereign country.

Ravichandran said, "Both Pakistan and Malaysia are associated with many Islamic organizations and cooperation. China's case is completely different with respect to these two. The relations between Malaysia and China are quite normal but the relationship between Pakistan and China is very special. China is the largest arms supplier in Pakistan and the relationship between China and Pakistan is not good with India. As long as Mahathir Mohammad was in power, relations with Pakistan remained good. ''

 

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