NEW DELHI: A day after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad slammed India over CAA, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Charge d’Affaires of Malaysian embassy to express its ‘anguish’ over Mohamad’s comments, official sources said. Malaysia was asked to take a ‘long-term’ and strategic view of the bilateral relations during this meeting, they added.
External affairs ministry said Mohamad’s comments were not in sync with established diplomatic practice of non-interference in their respective internal affairs, said official sources. The Malaysian diplomat was conveyed that the remarks by Mohamad were ‘insensitive’ and that he was ‘ill-informed’ on the issue, according to sources.
Questioning the ‘necessity’ of the Act, Mohammad had said, “I am sorry to see that India, which claims to be a secular state now is taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship.” He was speaking in the sidelines of the Kuala Lupur summit. The MEA had earlier issued a statement saying Mohamad had remarked on a matter that was India’s internal matter. It had also said in a statement that Mohamad’s comment was factually inaccurate.