Malaysian Minister meets Indian PM, says bilateral ties still good
Submitted by Mudassir Rizwan on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 07:03. India News
By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama
New Delhi : After holding discussions with top Indian leaders here Wednesday, Malaysian Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu says India-Malaysia relations remained as good as before.
Speaking to Bernama after meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in Delhi, Samy Vellu, who is president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a member of the ruling National Front coalition, said he clarified two issues that had recently created some controversy in India.
"I clarified various issues including the Nov 25 demonstration in KL (Kuala Lumpur) by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a non-registered organization, and the recent report on Malaysia banning Indian workers," Samy Vellu said.
"My explanations were well received by the prime minister (Manmohan). He repeatedly stated that India would not interfere in Malaysia's internal affairs and that the two countries had brotherly and friendly relations."
Samy Vellu, who is in the Indian capital to attend the 6th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indian Diaspora) conference, had earlier met Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Samy Vellu, whose MIC is the biggest Indian Malaysian political party, said he explained to Mukherjee about Hindraf and matters concerning workers brought from India to Malaysia, including Malaysia's stand on the two issues.
"He (Mukherjee) said India does not support extremism and he was quite sympathetic to the government's cause and understood the situation in Malaysia," said Samy Vellu.
Besides that, during his discussion with the Indian prime minister, the Works Minister also discussed about Malaysian companies' interest in monorail projects in India.
"I told him about the potential for monorail projects in three places, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad and also requested the prime minister to ask Indian institutions of learning to set up branches in Malaysia so that Malaysian and Indian students can study in them," he said.
During the talks, Manmohan said he wanted to see more investment and trade flows between both nations, Samy Vellu said.
Samy Vellu also presented the Indian premier a booklet "Malaysian Indians -- Then and Now", which summaries the Indian community's progress in Malaysia since independence.
Speaking to Malaysian journalists earlier, Samy Vellu said he had met numerous Indian leaders since his arrival in India on 29th Dec and most of them accepted his explanation regarding Hindraf's allegations about discrimination of the Indian community in Malaysia.
"I have explained to all and they have received it well, with the exception of one leader, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (M. Karunanidhi) because he has already made up his mind that whatever Hindraf says is right," he added.
"So there is no point in giving any explanation. I am unhappy with his stand. I won't say I am disappointed," he told journalists covering the three-day conference which ended Wednesday.
He also said that the MIC discovered that one of the demands made by Hindraf in their court case in Britain was to provide British citizenship to all Indian Malaysians.
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2008/jan/09/malaysian_minister_meets_indian_pm_says_bilateral_ties_still_good.html
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