PM Modi meets Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Bin Mohamad in Russia, raises issue of Zakir Naik's extradition

Images Credits: Twitter/@MEAIndia

New Delhi/Vladivostok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Bin Mohamad on the sidelines of Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia, during which he raised the issue of the extradition of controversial preacher Zakir Naik and also discussed the need for legislative changes to Jammu and Kashmir.

Briefing about their meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said, "PM Modi raised the issue of Zakir Naik and both the parties decided that the officials will keep in touch regarding it and its an important issue for New Delhi."

India had sent an extradition request to Malaysia but no action had been taken. 

Zakir Naik is wanted in India and is known for his hate speeches. In 2017, India had revoked his passport and declared him as an offender. He currently resides in Malaysia which has given him a Permanent Resident (PR) status. 

There is now a growing criticism of Naik in Malaysia as well, where he has been involved in hate speeches against the minority Hindu population.

Removing the special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was another key point that was discussed. PM Modi explained to Malaysian PM "the rationale behind the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir" that will give "effective governance and socio-economic" development to the region.

In this context, issues related to terror was raised and measure "to cope with the growing global terror" was discussed too. 

Mahathir acknowledged that "terror is a global problem" and said that "Malaysia is against terrorism of any form", the foreign secretary said.

(By Sidhant Sibal/Kartikeya Sharma)