Malaysia’s envoy to the US Nazri Aziz, was recently accused of failing to arrange a phone call between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US president Donald Trump.
US president Donald Trump has other things on his mind rather than Malaysia, Southeast Asia or even Asean, the analysts say.
PETALING JAYA:
Two analysts have played down concerns over the lack of a phone call between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US president Donald Trump, saying it’s not a big issue.
Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Trump had been in communication with leaders of countries who face challenges with other nations, or those who have run into issues with his foreign policies, including Mexico, Colombia, and Canada.
“However, when it comes to China, Trump has shown no interest in speaking with or meeting (Chinese president) Xi Jinping,” Azmi told FMT.
“As long as we stay off Trump’s radar, we should be fine. Keeping a low profile should be enough to avoid unnecessary attention – our prime minister doesn’t need a conversation with Trump,” he added.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs believes that the “extremely preoccupied” Trump is in no rush to take a call from Malaysia, a country that has not particularly taken the American side in the ongoing Sino-US confrontation.
“After all, he already talked to Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto, the leader of the largest southeast Asian nation,” he said.
Azmi said that he did not think Trump would entertain an invitation to attend the Asean summit, “no matter who from Putrajaya sends the invitation” as Trump’s focus is not on Southeast Asia or Asean.
He said it would be sufficient if US secretary of state Marco Rubio were to attend the summit.
Oh agreed that Trump would be in no rush to come to this part of the world. “Besides, Xi may likely come, right?” he said, referring to reports of Putrajaya extending an invitation to the Chinese president last November.
On Friday, former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming accused Malaysia’s ambassador to the US, Nazri Aziz, of failing to arrange a phone call between Anwar and Trump, adding that these calls were crucial signals in the diplomatic community.
However Nazri brushed off Ong’s criticisms, saying that Putrajaya cannot show such a firm stand against Israel yet try so hard to speak with the Trump administration as this would make Malaysia “look two-faced”.
He said there was no harm in not getting a call, so long as it was put on record that the prime minister had reached out to convey his well wishes over Trump’s second stint in the White House.
2025-02-09T16:00:00Z
Source Link: freemalaysiatoday