Malawi's former President Bakili Muluzi continued the pro-Western foreign policy established by his predecessor, Hastings Banda.
Malawi is a member of the following international organizations: the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Nations and some of its specialized and related agencies (i.e. UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO), IMF, World Bank, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, Organization of African Unity (OAU), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Lomé Convention, African Development Bank (AFDB), Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Non-Aligned Movement, G-77, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malawi is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
[105] Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 October 1964 when has been accredited Acting High Commissioner of India to Malawi Mr. Dileep S.
As of 25 May 2018, the date of presentation of credentials of Philippine non-resident ambassador Uriel Norman Garibay to President Arthur Peter Mutharika, there are 41 Filipino nationals residing in Malawi, mainly in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
The colonial structures of Malawian labour export to South African mines continued after Malawi achieved independence in 1964.
Led by dictator Hastings Banda, Malawi was the only African country to maintain close relations with White-ruled South Africa until the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela.
Officially, this was because 200 Malawians had tested positive for HIV in the previous two years, but many believe that it was due to the need for retrenchment of laborers during a crisis in South Africa's mining industry.
The United States has an active Peace Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and an Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Malawi.
The US government agency responsible, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, suspended aid because it was 'deeply upset' by the deaths of the 19 people during the July protests.