Malaysia as Asean chair to proactively engage, urge US, China to ease tensions

KUALA LUMPUR: As the Asean chair next year, Malaysia will lead the regional grouping in engaging more proactively with the US and China to reduce their growing tensions.

“As long as we (Asean) take this centrality role to continue to engage with both, I think it should be alright to contain (the tensions),” said Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in an interview with India Today Global during his three-day official visit to India.

The protracted tensions between the US and China over the past few years have not only led to the deterioration of bilateral relations between the two countries but also affected global stability and economic prosperity.

Anwar said he was thankful that Malaysia is the next Asean chair. He described the group as the “most cohesive sub-regional grouping in the world,” with well-established relations among member states and their leaders.

He said that even on the Myanmar issue, the group would continue to engage with all parties involved to resolve the prolonged crisis.

“I think we have no choice but to engage, and I will certainly be active with the consent of my colleagues in Asean.

“The parameters have been set, and most of them were discussed extensively last year in Jakarta and this year,” he said.

In April 2021, Asean leaders endorsed a Five-Point Consensus to address the political crisis in Myanmar, including calling for the immediate cessation of violence and the commencement of constructive dialogues to restore peace and security following a military coup that ousted its democratically elected government in February the same year.

Anwar said the crisis has also impacted Malaysia, which is now hosting over 200,000 ethnic Rohingyas fleeing violence in Myanmar.

“I believe so strongly in human rights and freedoms. We have to protect them. But at the same time, it’s causing too much hardship and difficulty for us to contain this group. So the engagement has to be continued,” he said.

Anwar reiterated that Malaysia would not be pressured into siding with any major powers.

“Why force us to take a side? We will defend our territorial integrity. We will maintain our centrality. We know that we need to interact with everyone in this globalised world.

“America remains a very important country in investment, trade, education, technology and AI (artificial intelligence). China is an emerging power in the region. I’ve placed a lot of importance on India, even contrary to my predecessors,” he said.

He said Malaysia resolved to address any issues that arise with its neighbours, including the overlapping claims in the South China Sea, through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.

The prime minister also stressed India’s importance as a growing economy and to the Asean region and expressed his hope that the grouping would establish deep strategic cooperation with the South Asian nation.

Anwar had invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Asean Summits next year, which he said Modi had accepted. – Bernama