Echoing Turkey and China, the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad indirectly accused India of invading and occupying Jammu and Kashmir and asked India and Pakistani to “resolve the problem by peaceful means”.
"Now, despite the UN resolution on Jammu and Kashmir, the country has been invaded and occupied."
"There may be reasons for this action but it is still wrong. The problem must be solved by peaceful means. India should work with Pakistan to resolve this problem. Ignoring the UN would lead to other forms of disregard for the UN and the Rule of Law," said the Malaysian prime minister.
Mohamad also tweeted that ignoring the UN is tantamount to disregard for the organisation and the rule of law.
The statement from the Malaysian Prime Minister drew a sharp response from several people in India, who tweeted calls for a “boycott Malaysia” campaign.
Several social media activists are demanding action against the country including placing a trade embargo, leading to #BoycottMalaysia trending on twitter with 12.4k mentions.
Hitting out on the Malaysian Prime Minister, several others called on India to ban tourism to the country.
India's opposition Congress Party leader Abishek Manu Sanghvi slammed the Malaysian Prime Minister. Sanghvi said his remarks showed his “love for jihad”, which even surpassed Pakistan. He asked the federal government to take strong diplomatic action against Malaysia
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Malaysian Mahathir Mohamad in Russia to discuss the extradition of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to India to face trial for fuelling extremism.