JOIN USMalaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's refusal to deport controversial preacher Zakir Naik to India came as a diplomatic setback for New Delhi on Friday.
Mahathir's statement ruling out the possibility of deporting Naik from Malaysia to India came just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a meeting with his counterpart in the Southeast Asian country.
Modi, in fact, had a brief stopover in Kuala Lumpur while flying from Jakarta to Singapore on May 31, only to meet Mahathir, who had returned to the office of the prime minister of Malaysia just a few weeks ago.
Modi had called up new the Malaysian prime minister and congratulated him soon after the 92-year-old became the world's oldest elected head of the government.
Modi was the third foreign leader and the first one from outside the Southeast Asian region to meet the new Prime Minister of Malaysia.
His move to visit Kuala Lumpur to meet the new prime minister of Malaysia was apparently aimed at reaching out to the new dispensation in the Southeast Asian nation early.
Modi's meeting with Mahathir was a brief one and the specific issue of deportation or extradition of Zakir Naik from Malaysia to India did not come up for discussion.
New Delhi, however, was expecting that its early move to engage with him would be appreciated by the veteran leader and make the new regime in Kuala Lumpur favourably consider its request to send back the radical preacher to stand trial in India.
India, however, was disappointed on Friday as Mahathir told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur that Naik would not be deported from Malaysia as long as he would not create any problem, sources said.
Naik left India on July 1, 2016, after a probe into a terror attack in neighbouring Bangladesh revealed that his evangelical speeches on TV had helped terror outfits find new recruits.
He is purported to be living in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur granted him permanent residency facilitating his stay in the South Asian country.
The National Investigation Agency had registered a case against the preacher under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for inciting terrorism.
New Delhi has requested Kuala Lumpur for Naik's extradition.
India and Malaysia have an extradition treaty, which was inked in 2010 and came into force in 2011.
Mahathir is a veteran of the Southeast Asian nation's politics and led the nation as prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.
He came out of retirement and was elected to take over the office of the prime minister again earlier this year, dislodging his former protege Najib Razak.
He led Pakatan Harapan alliance of parties to victory resulting in the end of the 61-year-long rule of Barisan Nasional.