In what is believed to be a continuing display of displeasure over the ill-treatment of Indian IT professionals by the police last Sunday, India is calling off a proposed visit by Health Minister Chua Jui Meng to New Delhi.

According to Indian Express

daily today, New Delhi has "apparently expressed inability to host Chua towards March-end saying that the proposed dates were inconvenient".

The daily said that the cancellation of the visit was "indicative of the hardening of New Delhi's posture towards Kuala Lumpur". The routine visit included Chua's scheduled talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.

This hardened stand by India follows its fresh demand yesterday for an explanation o­n the mass arrests of Indian IT professionals. New Delhi had earlier lodged two diplomatic protests over the incident.

The Indian government is peeved with the way its citizens were treated o­n Sunday when the police rounded up

270 Indian expatriates residing at Palm Court condominium in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur o­n suspicion that they could be illegal immigrants. However, of the 165 brought to the police station, almost all were released the same day when their employment visas was proven valid.

Results soon

The expatriates, mostly working in the information technology field, have complained that some of them were ordered to do sit-ups, while others were stripped to their underwear, slapped and kicked inside the police station.

The Malaysian government has said that it will investigate into these complaints and that action will be taken against any errant police officer.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had promised

to convey the results of the investigation to the Indian government via diplomatic channels as soon as possible.

The rebuke by the Indian government over Chua's visit is also a follow-up from a statement

by the Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna yesterday that the incident was "causing a shadow in bilateral ties".

Increasing influence

The Indian Express

also questioned if the police raid was a part of a bigger picture to sideline the Indian workers, as a result of "Malaysia's affinity to Muslim countries".

"The harassment of Indians in Kuala Lumpur has offset a debate in South Block over whether the incident was merely sporadic as Malaysians might want to suggest, or whether it is part of a thought-out plan. Officials are busy looking at the Malaysian bid to increase its influence among Islamic states like Pakistan," said the daily .

"Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad's growing affinity towards these countries has been watched with concern by Asian powers like India for some time now. Coupled with this, some of Malaysia's uncalled for remarks o­n Kashmir and roots of terrorism in international and regional forums have often been gulped by New Delhi with pinch of salt."

Alongside this entire debate, officials have now also begun to rethink ways of adding instruments in bilateral treaties that would provide New Delhi with extra leverage.

The daily also added that Indian has been more than "accommodating" o­n several trade related concessions with Malaysia.

"In fact, Malaysian exporters have been promoted in several sectors. Many of their companies have been bagging several contracts related to highway construction and other such mega infrastructure projects in India. Delhi has been welcoming Malaysian investment worth millions of dollars in the IT sector too.

"But now this growing partnership has come under a cloud. Reassessments, re-examinations and reconsiderations are the order of the day as New Delhi wants to look afresh at its approach towards Kuala Lumpur," added the daily.

Major rupture

Reacting to the negative reports in Indian dailies over the police raid, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang today said that the incident could lead to a situation of the diplomatic ties between the two countries "coming under a cloud".

"The foot-dragging and insensitivity of the government to the response of outrage of the Indian government, the diplomatic row between Malaysia and India, has threatened to become a major rupture in the history of bilateral relations with ties between two countries coming under a cloud," he said in a statement.

Lim added that he will be submitting an eight-point formula to Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi o­n ways to end the double diplomatic and IT crisis precipitated by the Palm Court incident.

He hopes that this will help restore Malaysia-India relations and repair Malaysia's dented IT image, "so that Malaysia will continue to be taken seriously as a key and important player in the global IT arena".