MALAYSIA MUST MAINTAIN VIGILANCE, NON-ALIGNED POLICY AMID GLOBAL RIVALRIES - FORMER DIPLOMAT

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia must remain vigilant and firmly uphold its non-aligned foreign policy amid intensifying global power rivalries, while prioritising national interests over domestic and political pressures, a former diplomat said.

Datuk Dr Ilango Karuppannan, an adjunct professor at Universiti Malaya and Taylor’s University, said that despite the nation’s progress since independence, Malaysia must remain consistent in diplomatic matters to protect the country’s interests.

“So vigilance is the key when we talk about diplomacy. Our interest has to be at the primary thought process of whatever we do.

“We should be consistent on what's important and the developing countries need space to develop, we should not be pushed to take sides with one or the other, so the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is relevant for all times,” he said on Bernama TV’s The Nation programme on the topic Origins of Malaysia's Middle East Foreign Policy, recently.

Karuppannan, who had three decades of frontline diplomatic experiences, including serving as High Commissioner to Singapore and Cyprus, said Malaysia’s foreign policy has been remarkably consistent for more than six decades since the early 1960s.

“Malaysia does not internalise foreign policy into domestic affairs. Foreign policy has always been kept as a foreign policy issue, because interlocutors out there must know that our position comes from our foreign policy thinking, not domestic considerations,” he said.

He said this long-standing approach continues to be visible in Malaysia’s positions on the Middle East, particularly its unwavering support for a two-state solution to resolve the Palestine-Israel conflict. Malaysia, he added, was among the first countries to open a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office.

Reflecting on Malaysia’s early diplomatic ties, Karuppannan said that as a young nation and a major producer of tin and rubber, the country needed international partners to secure markets, investment, and defence support.

He noted that conflicts such as the Konfrontasi launched by Indonesia in 1963 also shaped the nation’s early foreign policy.

-- BERNAMA