After the Prime Ministers of India and Malaysia addressed over the weekend their respective domestic constituencies, the two governments have a moment to take stock of the controversy over Kuala Lumpur’s treatment of its Indian minority and inject a measure of mutual restraint.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks were, by design, too general to give any offence to the Malaysian Government. His Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in turn, made it a point to praise the contributions of Indian minority even as he denounced the accusations of “ethnic cleansing” levelled by the Hindu Rights Action Force.

“In our 50 years of independence, we never had any problems with the Indians. The Indians have played their role in being staunch supporters of the Malaysian Government,” Badawi said.

That the two prime ministers carefully avoided recrimination suggests there might be some room yet for a quiet bilateral engagement on the issue.

Despite the many irritants that have accumulated in recent years between India and Malaysia, New Delhi has no reason to forget the strong bonds that once united the national movements of the two countries and the deeper links between Indian and Malay cultures.

India is also acutely aware that the biggest loser from an escalating war of words between New Delhi and Chennai on the one hand and Kuala Lumpur on the other would be none other than Malaysia’s Indian community.

Ever since independence, New Delhi has drawn a careful line between the expression of natural empathy with the expatriate Indian communities and the dangers of a direct Indian intervention on their behalf.

... contd.