Economics
Asia’s Latest Trade Spat Divides Palm Oil Giants Over Kashmir
- Malaysia’s Mahathir called India’s Kashmir move an ‘invasion’
- Many Indian buyers are switching to Indonesian palm supplies
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India, the world’s top palm oil buyer, is shunning purchases from Malaysia after the Southeast Asian nation’s prime minister criticized its policy in Kashmir, sparking the latest trade spat in the region.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last month told the United Nations that India “invaded and occupied” Kashmir. Since then, many Indian buyers of palm oil have started shifting to Indonesian supplies amid concern that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will curb purchases of the vegetable oil from Malaysia.