KUANTAN, Dec 28 — The Indian government’s recent action in summoning the acting Malaysian High Commissioner there, has not jeopardised the relationship between both countries, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said today.
The summons was an established practice undertaken by any country to get a detailed explanation on an issue, and in this connection, the recent summons was for the specific purpose of discussing the Citizenship Amendment Act in India, he said.
“We don’t know whether India is satisfied or not but our (acting) High Commissioner stated the country’s position, which is to be friendly with all nations irrespective of background and ideology...we even have good relationships, from economic aspects, with countries which do not practise democracy.
“We do not interfere with the affairs of a country but when an incident or issue transpires, which in our view, raises questions about democracy, freedom, human rights and the constitution, we may need to convey our views. That’s all,” he said, when speaking to reporters after visiting Terminal Kuantan Sentral here.
On Dec 22, the media reported that the Indian government had summoned the acting Malaysian head of mission there to convey its official protest against a statement made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad concerning the country’s citizenship law.
Saifuddin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Indera Mahkota, added that relations between both countries were not jeopardised because in general, a government could distinguish between political statements made by its leadership on a particular country and the economic and business ties it had with that country.
In this connection, he cited the example of Malaysia’s relationship with Myanmar. “They (Myanmar) know our stand on the Rohingya community but at the same time, our businessmen there continue to trade normally”.
On the stand taken by non-governmental organisations in Malaysia in reference to India’s citizenship law, the minister said they could do so in line with the freedom of expression but the organisations did not represent the Malaysian government.
On another matter, Saifuddin said six development projects had begun in Taman PSJ, Taman Bandar, Pantai Batu Hitam and Astaka Beserah here, with an allocation of about RM4 million from the Economic Affairs Ministry.
He added that discussions had also been undertaken with the Kuantan Municipal Council on other upgrading projects as part of preparations to upgrade Kuantan, which includes the Indera Mahkota constituency, to city level. — Bernama
