Dr Mahathir Mohamad continues to insist that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi did not ask for controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik to be extradited when the two prime ministers met in Russia earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reportedly said that New Delhi's expectation for Zakir to be extradited was previously communicated to Mahathir by Modi.

Zakir, who enjoys Malaysian permanent resident status granted to him by the previous BN government, is wanted back home for money laundering, terrorism and hate speech charges.

He has denied any wrongdoing and maintains that the criminal charges are politically motivated.