Why Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamed upped the ante against India
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed’s decision to step back from escalating a diplomatic row with India may have its roots in domestic politics and Mahathir’s own political legacy.
(Times of India) – In the past couple of months, Mahathir accused India of “invading and occupying” Jammu & Kashmir and railing against India’s new citizenship laws. His remarks invited swift retribution from New Delhi, with the Indian government taking the unprecedented step of curbing refined palm oil imports from Malaysia. India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil and Malaysia the second-largest producer. Per the most recent assessment by Bloomberg, Malaysia stands to lose about $1.4 billion worth of exports if India were to just go back to 2018 import levels.
Why did Mahathir do it in the first place? According to analysts here, it’s part of Mahathir’s own domestic politics, although, as things turned out, he may have overstepped his limits.
