Malaysia: In talks with India, other countries over palm oil sales

Malaysia's trade minister Darell Leiking said that Malaysia is holding dialogues with India and other countries to buy their palm oil after Indian traders called for a boycott of the palm oil. India's vegetable oil trade body called for a boycott as diplomatic ties suffered between the two countries after Malaysian Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's remark on Kashmir during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

Boycott on buying Malaysian palm oil

Traders from India have called for a boycott on buying Malaysian palm oil which resulted in a worrying situation in Delhi that talks on the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) could also be affected.

In a public address, Darell stated that the negotiations on RCEP were on course, and a final deal should have all the participants such as the 10-member nations of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and six of the Asia-Pacific member nations- Australia, China, India, South Korea, Japan and, New Zealand.

Read: Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad Fears Sanctions Amid US-China Trade War

Open to a diplomatic solution: Malaysian PM

Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had said that Malaysia is open to a diplomatic solution if India puts a restriction on Malaysia's palm oil imports. A lot of traders from India stated that there was a reduction in purchasing of the palm oil due to a fear of a high import tax. Malaysia also stated that they were planning to make an increase in the imports of raw sugar and buffalo meat to try and end tensions between both countries.

Read: WATCH: Malaysian PM Says J&K Issue Can Be Resolved Via Talks

A clarification by the Malaysian PM

Also, Mahathir Mohamad stated that his comment on the Kashmir issue during his UNGA speech was not favoring anyone. He further added that his country does not favor any one of the two countries instead it has asked India and Pakistan to solve the issue without any use of force. He also called for the concepts of negotiation and arbitration to be used to solve the ongoing issue.

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Read: Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad Clarifies His Statement On Kashmir