Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad
Kuala Lumpur… News time
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed on Tuesday said he would not back down his stance on Kashmir despite the boycott of Malaysian PAM Oil by Indian businessmen. Mahathir Muhammad said that a halt to trade between PAM Oil between the two countries could turn into a trade war. Malaysia is the world’s second largest PAM Oil producing and exporting country while India is its largest buyer. Mahathir Mohammed quoted Kashmir in the UN General Assembly last month saying that India had invaded Kashmir and occupied it. India, however, says it is an internal matter of theirs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government abolished special constitutional status of Indian-administered Kashmir on August 5 this year against which Pakistan and Malaysia have raised their voice.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has said he will review the effects of boycotting by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of Mumbai and then try to resolve the matter, according to Reuter’s news agency. When the BBC contacted Mumbai’s Solvent Extractors’ Association, he said his organization had taken this decision in view of the tensions between the two countries. When asked if they made this decision at the behest of the Government of India, they avoided the answer. He said that the decision was taken by the Indian government in response to the stringent action taken by India in response to Malaysia’s stand. The advisory issued by Atul Chaturvedi, President of the Solvent Extractors’ Association, to the members of the organization, stated that in order to express our own interests and solidarity with our country, we should cease purchasing Malaysia from time to time.
Speaking to the BBC, one of his representatives said that if PAM Oil is procured from Malaysia and the Government of India increases its import duty, then we will be at a major disadvantage. He also sent the BBC another statement in which the government’s attention was directed towards it. PAM Oil is being sent to India through Nepal and Bangladesh, leaving India with a loss of Rs. 50 million a month. It also states that this deficit is occurring because a state customs circular was released in 2011. According to the South Asian Organization, SAARC was said to not impose tariffs on imports of the five least developed countries of SAARC.
On the other hand, in relation to India and Malaysia, we talked to Mohammad Sohrab, an observer of the Muslim world and an associate professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University. So he said that India and Malaysia have traditionally been extremely friendly. He said that taking such an extreme position on anything between Asian and African countries is not beneficial for our future. Dr Mohammad Sohrab said that people of Indian origin who live in Malaysia have equal rights and are among the most prosperous communities there. In India, Muslims do not have the same rights as citizens of India, as do Indians in Malaysia. Talking to reporters in front of the parliament on Tuesday, Mahathir Mohammad, who is from Kashmir, said, “We speak of our heart and we do not hold back or change it.” He added: We are saying that we should abide by the (UN) resolution. If not, then what is the benefit of the United Nations? In the UN resolution of 1948, Kashmir is a contentious area between India and Pakistan, and in one of the resolutions there is also the issue of comment.
Mohammad Sohrab said that Kashmir problem is historic and from the colonial times, which India or other countries should see in human rights, democratic rights and legal framework. He added that the region may be controversial but the people there – the human rights of the Kashmir’s and democratic constitutional rights – are not disputed. He also said that no one questioned the sovereignty of India but because of India’s own policy, the Kashmir problem has not been resolved till date.
Talking about the tension in relations between India and Malaysia, he said he could not say anything directly about India’s foreign policy. But all you can say is that India’s foreign policy is moving forward under a new strategy. And the basic changes that are happening at the internal level are the grief of that. He added that the Hindu policy and the pluralistic government policy were being implemented at the internal level. And nowhere else are you going with the US and Israel’s global agenda, which is your decision. Mohammad Sohrab said India’s foreign policy was thus affecting its internal policy and internal policy was affecting foreign policy. And as far as Malaysia or Turkey is concerned, it is the right of each sovereign country to adopt a policy in its own interest and India as well. He questioned the dissenting policy for different regions of India and said: “If Turkey or Malaysia has taken a stand on Kashmir, then we have to look inside ourselves to see how this happened.” Is this a failure of our internal policy? Before today, neither Turkey nor Saudi Arabia had taken such a position and Saudi Arabia has not said anything yet, but just as the change that is happening here at the domestic level and the rise of sectarian fascism, man’s democratic rights are being violated in the days to come if it does not stop. So any country that has a moral framework to see the world will intervene or take its stand.
