According to Wisma Putra, the Indian government also gave an assurance that it would not interfere in the affairs of the country during a discussion with the foreign ministry.

The talks with the Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia were held following the hand-over of a memorandum by Hindu People’s Party president Arjun Sampath to the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Chennai last Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement today.

According to Wisma Putra, the memorandum from the party, also known as the Hindu Makkal Katchi, condemned the incident, claiming the government was biased against Hindus in Malaysia and did not take any action over the incident.

“The Malaysian government takes a serious view of the statement by the Hindu Makkal Katchi, which was made without basis.

“It is seen to be irresponsible with malicious intent to tarnish the good bilateral relations between Malaysia and India,” the statement said.

Wisma Putra added that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his speech in Parliament, also stated clearly that the incident was criminal and no racial or religious elements were involved.

Hindu Makkal Katchi is a small right-wing Hindu nationalist party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The riots, sparked by a clash during a protest against the relocation of the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, near here on Monday and Tuesday resulted in a firefighter being seriously injured, several others being hurt, 23 cars torched and damage to a section of the One City Mall.

The injured firefighter, Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, is currently being treated at the National Heart Institute and is reported to be in critical but stable condition.

As of yesterday, police had arrested 42 individuals to facilitate investigations into the case.