Malaysia Defends ASEAN Centrality, Pursues Principled Diplomacy
SINGAPORE, May 31 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated that Malaysia, as Chair for ASEAN 2025, is committed to defending ASEAN's centrality and promoting its active non-alignment.
Speaking at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Anwar cautioned against a new orthodoxy that not only affects how diplomacy is viewed but also how security will be structured, risking the fragmentation of the regional architecture and undermining Southeast Asia's strategic autonomy.
'Preserving our autonomy is not about resisting others. It is about strengthening ourselves. This, in essence, is what ASEAN Centrality is about.
'We do not object to like-minded partners talking amongst themselves. But coalitions that build walls instead of bridges, stoke arms competition, or undermine the legitimacy of multilateralism should give us pause.
'A stable region is not one braced for conflict, but one grounded in openness, transparency, and habit-forming cooperation,' he said.
He also stressed that Southeast Asia does not need a new Cold War, but rather an equilibrium that promotes cooperation without coercion and balance without bloc politics.
Anwar said that ASEAN, through decades of consensus-building, was built to foster stability in a region where peace is sustained, freedom is protected, and neutrality is respected.
'If this Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone is a glimpse of what cooperation can achieve at the bilateral level, then ASEAN is the wider canvas.'
'ASEAN was never meant to dominate or dictate. That foundation still holds,' he said.
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