To commemorate inter Asian links is no doubt a worthy idea, for those countries concerned that can afford the expense.

But for Najib to attend such an occasion puts the Government of India in a poor light as openly receiving a proven mega criminal to an official occasion. There can be no doubt that the Government of India is fully aware of the US DOJ statements on the 1MDB mega thefts and the principal role played in those by mega thief Najib.

It is one thing to maintain relations with neighbouring States but quite another to receive publicly proven criminal leaders at official events.

The Government of India should be ashamed of itself. And if this is not the case it should certainly reflect how this will impact on relations with Malaysia when a new Malaysian government is in office later this year.

Najib will not be a useful contact for India in future inter-governmental relations and this is something that appears to have been overlooked. It would have been easy privately to ask him to stay away and the government of India may well rue the day that they failed to do that.