Foreign relations of Malaysia
The FPDA continues to operate, and the Five Powers have a permanent Integrated Area Defence System based at RMAF Butterworth, and organise annual naval and air exercises.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (up to 1970), Malaysia pursued a strongly pro-Commonwealth anti-communist foreign policy.
Nonetheless, Malaysia was active in the opposition to apartheid that saw South Africa quit the Commonwealth in 1961, and was a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1969, with the Tunku as its first Secretary-General in 1971.
He long sought to establish an East Asian Economic Group as an alternative to APEC, excluding Australia, New Zealand and the Americas, and during his premiership Malaysia signed up to an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN+3, a regional forum with China, Japan and South Korea A strong tenet of Malaysia's policy is national sovereignty and the right of a country to control its domestic affairs.
It attaches a high priority to the security and stability of Southeast Asia, and has tried to strengthen relations with other Islamic states.
Despite Mahathir's frequently anti-Western rhetoric he worked closely with Western countries, and led a crackdown against Islamic fundamentalists after the 11 September attacks.
The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Dato' Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, who assumed office on 10 March 2020.
[14] Kuala Lumpur was the site of the first East Asia Summit in 2005,[3] and Malaysia has chaired ASEAN, the OIC, and the NAM in the past.
[21] Malaysia was not party to a March 2005 joint accord among the national oil companies of China, the Philippines and Vietnam on conducting marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands.
[23][26][27] The ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands to Malaysia over Indonesia but left the maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute,[21][28] culminating in hostile confrontations in March 2005 over concessions to the Ambalat oil block.
Singapore was a part of Malaysia for two years (1963–65), but it ultimately was asked by Tunku to secede after increased racial tensions due to the election campaigns in 1964.
On 24 May 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore with the nearby Middle Rocks going to Malaysia.
[30] This issue was resolved along with several other disputes with the sealing and signing of letters of exchange by Abdullah and the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei at Istana Nurul Iman.
[31] List of countries which Malaysia maintains diplomatic relations with: Brunei has a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.
In 2003, Brunei and Malaysia ceased gas and oil exploration in their disputed offshore and deep water seabeds and negotiations have stalemated prompting consideration of international adjudication.
See also Malaysia-Singapore border, Pedra Branca dispute Thailand has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and consulates in George Town and Kota Bharu.
Recently, Thai-Malay relations have soured considerably due to the ethnically-Malay Pattani separatists in three southern provinces of Thailand.
Both Malaysia and Pakistan were a part of the South east Asian version of NATO called SEATO also known as a 'mutual defence pact'.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga made a state visit in 1997 and several memorandum of understanding (MoU) were signed during the meeting.
Malaysian imports to Austria, consisting mainly of one product group, namely electronic and electrical goods, especially semiconductors, reduced by half to 236.4 million.
The Dutch established relations with the Sultanate of Johor in the early 17th century, and in 1641 they captured the Portuguese colony of Malacca (on the south-western coast of today's Peninsular Malaysia).
[268] Entry to Malaysia was refused to all Serbian passport holders until 2007, unless they were in possession of a letter of approval from Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs.
Both countries share common membership of the Commonwealth, CPTPP, the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and the World Trade Organization.
In 2006, Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller and Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, have expressed satisfaction with the progress of bilateral relations between the two countries and have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening these relations through the exchange of visits and co-operation in the economic, technological, shipping, health and educational sectors, among other areas.
The United States and Malaysia launched negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in June 2006.
Malaysia together with Malawi are both significant tea producers, and co-operate in tri-national (with India) discussions of market conditions and promotion of the product globally.
Cooperation between the two countries include cultural exchanges, trade in goods, financial assistance and capacity building in various sectors.
The High Commissioner of Nigeria, Bello Shehu Ringim, speaking with the Yang Dipertua Dewan Negara, Abu Zahar Ujang, expresses the concern of Nigerian students being fooled by Malaysian private-owned universities and social problems.
[344] In October 2021, Sudanese–Malaysia relations were adversely affected by the Sudanese transitional government's seizure of Malaysian state owned enterprise Petronas' assets and arrest of the company's country manager.
[353][354] The Federation of Malaya became an independent native elective monarchy within the Commonwealth on 31 August 1957 with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as head of state.
