The Centre on Saturday summoned the Malaysian envoy to India and lodged a “solemn protest” after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad made observations critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act .
“It was conveyed that such remarks are neither in keeping with accepted diplomatic practice of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, nor with the state of our bilateral relations,” a government source said after the Malaysian Charge D’Affaires was summoned.
Speaking after the Islamic Summit in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian leader had said the police action against Indians protesting over the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 was “very unfortunate”.
“India is a secular state from the start; religion of the people did not prevent them from becoming citizens,” Mr Mohamad had said.
He also referred to the situation in Kashmir during a meeting with the media.
India described these comments as “ill-informed and insensitive”. The government source conveyed that the Malaysian leader’s comments were not helpful for the bilateral ties, saying, “Malaysia was asked to take a long-term and strategic view of the bilateral relations”.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were not part of the Islamic Summit at the Malaysian capital which indicated at the formation of a new Islamic block.
