Vladivostok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised the issue of Zakir Naik’s extradition with his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad as India stepped up efforts to seek the controversial radical preacher’s return to face terrorism and money laundering charges.
Prime Minister Modi who met Mahathir on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held here, also explained to his Malaysian counterpart the rationale behind India’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“Had a great meeting with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. We talked about bilateral ties between our nations and ways to further diversify cooperation,” Modi tweeted.
Briefing reporters on the meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said Prime Minister Modi raised the issue of Naik’s extradition from Malaysia during his meeting with Mahathir.
“Both the parties have decided that our officials will stay in contact regarding the matter and it is an important issue for us,” Gokhale said.
Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to the largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.
He is wanted by Indian authorities since 2016 for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches.
He has been banned from from any public activities in the multi-ethnic country after his remarks against Malaysian Hindus and Chinese on August 8.
Gokhale said that Prime Minister Modi discussed with Mahathir the “reorganisation” and the developments related to Jammu and Kashmir.
“The growing threat of terrorism also figured in their talks,” he said.
“Modi also described Mahathir’s election as a historic one and said India was looking forward to working with Malaysia,” he added.
There was also discussion on trade and ways to diversify the bilateral ties to benefit people in both the countries.
He assured Prime Minister Modi that while we should grow this trade, Malaysia is looking at ways by which we can balance this trade,” Gokhale said. (PTI)
