Mahathir for larger 'Asian grouping'

By Amit Baruah

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), FEB. 5. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, has said he favours the creation of a larger ``Asian grouping'' - one which would go beyond current regional entities and include all Asian nations.

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu before the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, announced the rescheduling of his visit to Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir wanted the Association of South East Asian Nations and India to extract more out of New Delhi's dialogue partner status with the regional grouping.

He gave no commitment on supporting an ASEAN-India summit and said there were several contenders for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council from Asia.

``We have no position (on India's entry into the UN Security Council) except that we would go along with the general consensus of Asian countries - we would look at India as an Asian country. It must be Asians who decide,'' Dr. Mahathir stated.

In reply to a question, the Prime Minister called upon India to show respect for all religions, including Islam. ``We regret, of course, if you destroy a mosque (a reference to the demolition of the Babri Masjid). It is something that hurts the feelings, we cannot bring ourselves to say, well, let the mosque be destroyed; that will not be acceptable to our people.''

However, Dr. Mahathir said Malaysia was ready to work closely with India given their historical linkages. ``It all depends on the political will of each country. As far as Malaysia is concerned, we have no problem ....(in cooperating with India).''

Appreciating the progress made by India in the IT sector, the Prime Minister said: ``We will need to work together with you, we will need some of their expertise, we will need, probably, your people also to work here.''

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