LettersMalaysian palm oil trade, not India, should worry about the fallout from Mahathir’s comments

Mr Danial Hariz Bin Mohd Robiei Wong (“As Modi’s nationalism hits Malaysia, should India worry?”, January 18) laments that India is taking a strong stand against palm oil imports from Malaysia in seeming retaliation for recent statements made by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He then goes on to suggest that this is against the interests of free trade.

Dr Mahathir has openly taken Pakistan’s side over Kashmir and criticised India’s new citizenship law, while sheltering fugitive terrorist influencer and Muslim preacher Zakir Naik, whose extradition has been long sought by India. All of this smacks of open interference in the domestic affairs of another country.

India is fully within its rights to make its own decisions; it is a fully functioning democracy and has no need for sermons from other countries, especially Malaysia, which has its own issues with racism and Islam-centrism.

India was Malaysia’s largest buyer of palm oil. Already, producers in Malaysia are grumbling; and on Monday, Mahathir tried to make conciliatory statements. Palm futures fell nearly 10 per cent last week, the biggest weekly decline in 11 years.

India can always buy palm oil from Indonesia instead. Their prices are a little higher but this will not have a big impact, unlike Malaysia’s massive loss. The question Malaysian traders should be asking is what Mahathir’s comments are costing them.