Malaysia not bowing to any country — Najib

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TOKYO: Establishing good relations with foreign countries does not mean kneeling to any country, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

PM AND WIFE BACK FROM VISITS: Malaysian Royal Air Force base religious officer Major Tirmizi Md Isa (left) recites ‘doa’ to welcome Najib and Rosmah (right) after their arrival from overseas visit in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama photo

PM AND WIFE BACK FROM VISITS: Malaysian Royal Air Force base religious officer Major Tirmizi Md Isa (left) recites ‘doa’ to welcome Najib and Rosmah (right) after their arrival from overseas visit in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama photo

He said Malaysia would indeed not kowtow to anyone as it had its own stand based on its policies and principles.

Addressing Malaysian students in Japan here last night, Najib said his visit to the United States recently did not mean that Malaysia was kowtowing to the Americans as claimed by certain quarters in Malaysia.

The prime minister visited the US recently at the invitation of President Barack Obama to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, during which he was one of nine world leaders invited for a bilateral meeting with Obama.

Najib said it was a great honour for Malaysia to be among nine selected countries given the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with the United States president.

He said the meeting should not be misconstrued as kneeling to the superpower as Malaysia was respected for its success.

“Moreover, only 40 countries were invited to attend the summit while 140 others were not.

“I do not think I want to kowtow to the United States,” he said at the event organised by the Mara Education Foundation and attended by more than 300 members of the Malaysian community in Japan, including students.

Najib said he might differ in his approach from other leaders as he opted for closer engagement with the US.

“This is better as we can criticise them as a close friend or as a friend with mutual respect,” he added.

He said criticism coming from a friend in a friendly manner was more easily accepted than hostile criticism.

The slanderous remarks hurled against him might be related to the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat by-election this Sunday, he said, adding that he would visit the constituency today.

He said the accusation against him was unethical and baseless.

“That is why I worked harder, I went to the United States, Saudi Arabia and now Japan to correct the misconception following distorted stories being circulated,” he said.

Najib said in his visit to several countries, he took the opportunity to clarify the country’s direction and the response he got was that they were very interested in Malaysia’s new direction, including the New Economic Model, the Government’s Transformation Programme and the 1Malaysia concept after hearing his explanation.

Present were his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, acting Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who is also Information Communication and Culture Minister, and Malaysian ambassador to Japan Datuk Shaharuddin Md Som. — Bernama