Slippery in Kuala Lumpur

Palmoil dominates the relationship

The Prime Minister, Mr Vajpayee’s recent sojourn to Malaysia has come a cropper. Such harsh comment is inescapable, for the nation’s chief executive has returned virtually empty-handed. The visit did not yield anything tangible on the two things of primary concern to New Delhi: Ottavio Quattrocchi’s extradition remains as elusive as before and little could be achieved in terms of reining in the growing influence of Pakistan in the region, which was important in the context of Malaysia’s presidency of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). Mr Quattrocchi’s extradition is reportedly tangled in technical and legal issues. And there is nothing to crow about Malaysia going beyond appreciating India’s views on its immediate neighbour, which was on entirely predictable lines. Malaysia, for its part, has a single-point agenda to push for with New Delhi, a fact itself indicative of the thinness of the bilateral relationship. India is the largest importer of palm oil from Malaysia, and Kuala Lumpur urged India to facilitate larger imports. India did indeed almost announce an import duty cut from 75 to 65 per cent but Mr Vajpayee pulled back from the brink to tell his interlocutors that a final decision would be taken after wider consultations at home. The last word on this is not yet out and there is a possibility of a duty cut, if only to placate Malaysia.

That may be no bad thing for the consumer but it means that the Kerala edible oils lobby will be up in arms. Memories of protests by Kerala traders when imported palmolein was poured out in the streets are still fresh and must have had a sobering effect on the Indian delegation. On the business side, Malaysia awarding the Rs 8,500-crore railway contract to Ircon is certainly significant, even if payment is to be settled through palm-oil purchases. So is the case with India’s offer of GSLV facilities, or the two countries joining hands to put in place several mechanisms including the joint commission and the defence committee. Mahathir Mohammed is a shrewd politician with strong business acumen. The prime minister might have been wise to include in his entourage men like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who has a good working equation with the Malaysian premier and might have coaxed out more from the Malaysian side.