Kuala Lumpur, Jan 18 (UNI) Malaysia is seeking diplomatic solutions with India to the row over the restrictions on refined palm oil imports following Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's recent remarks on the Narendra Modi government's policies regarding Kashmir and the citizenship.
Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said Kuala Lumpur will continuously engage with the world’s biggest palm oil buyer to find amicable solutions to the matter.
“It is important for us to engage them further through the diplomatic channel with stakeholders and industry players,” Bernama news agency quoted her telling reporters at the Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2020 here on Thursday.
Kok had dismissed reports that India has called for a boycott of Malaysian palm oil.
She said it was learned from several discussions that Indian palm oil buyers wanted Malaysia to increase its export of crude palm oil and reduce the export of refined palm oil.
The government earlier this month imposed restrictions on imports of refined palm oil. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that any import curbs being imposed by India is only to protect interest of the country and it is uniform in nature.
"I don't think we have put any curbs on imports from Malaysia, and neither we are contemplating nor we have put any curbs on Turkey," he said at the just concluded Raisina Dialogue organised by the Ministry of Extenal Affairs.
Goyal will be in Davos next week to attend the World Economic Fourm meeting and reports said he may meet his Malysian counterpart Darell Leiking there.
India has also rejected Mahathir's remarks, calling them "factually inaccurate".
UNI SRJ