NEW DELHI: Turkey and Malaysia are feeling the heat of India’s ire as New Delhi weighs leveraging its market and economic muscle to retaliate against the two for their public statements on Kashmir as well as support to Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
For the present, the Indian government is content to allow popular discontent to show itself as traders stop buying Malaysian palm oil and social media trends with #boycottmalaysia.
Reports have quoted industry representatives as saying Indian importers and refiners are moving palm oil purchases from Malaysia to Indonesia. India is the world’s largest buyer of palm oil. The government will watch for reactions from Malaysia before taking the next step.
Putting a brave face on it, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad was quoted as saying that his government would “work diplomatically” with India to resolve the trade problems if indeed India did take such action. There has been no official word from India, and for the moment the Modi government plans to keep it that way. Traders though are sensing a growing government chill towards Malaysia and this is impacting their buying behaviour.
Global News 
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