Saifuddin (left) speaking to the Malaysian media as Malaysian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Datuk Yubazlan Yusof looks on.
BAKU: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to share his thoughts on the importance of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), a multilateral forum to stand united and work together in addressing common challenges in a globalised world, when he joins dozen of world leaders at the 18th NAM Summit in this capital city of Azerbaijan.
“The Prime Minister is also expected to underscore the importance of the Movement to remain neutral and to respect the founding principles of NAM as enshrined in the Bandung Principles,” Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah told Malaysian media here yesterday.
According to him, this was timely as Dr Mahathir had sent a strong message at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month that the biggest threat to multilateralism was unilateralism that happens when powerful countries opt to do things their own way.
The NAM has its basic concepts originating from the Asian-African Conference – also known as Bandung Conference – held in Indonesia in 1955, which was the cornerstone for the movement’s formation later, which, among others, fought for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, recognition of the equality among all races and all nations and non-intervention or non-interference into the internal affairs of another country.
The movement started with 25 members in 1961 and has now expanded to 120 member countries, the second largest multilateral forum after the UN.
Saifuddin said Dr Mahathir was expected to arrive at the Azerbaijan capital on Thursday for the two-day summit which starts Friday.
He said Dr Mahathir would be accompanied by Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and senior government officials to the Baku Summit where 17 Heads of State and five Prime Ministers are scheduled to attend.
“This will be the first appearance by Tun Dr Mahathir at the NAM Summit as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia,” he said.
In fact, he said the last time a Malaysian prime minister graced the NAM Summit was in 2009 when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak attended the 15th Summit in Egypt.
Saifuddin said the theme for the Summit is “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world”.
“We consider the theme reflective of current political and economic developments. At the very least, there is concern from NAM member nations if the movement has strayed from its original objectives,” he said.
Saifuddin also said as the second biggest international organisation after the United Nations, NAM was the best platform to discuss multilateralism.
Azerbaijan, once part of Soviet Union, will take over the Chairmanship from Venezuela which led NAM from 2016 to 2019.
NAM is currently made up of 120 member countries, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organisations.
The prime minister is also scheduled to have bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the summit to discuss matters of mutual interest.
“Such meetings are expected to strengthen our bilateral relations with other countries and enhance understanding on pertinent regional and global issues,” said Saifuddin, adding that Malaysia’s participation in the 18th NAM Summit is important as it reflects our continuous commitment to the movement. It also enables Malaysia and other developing countries to have a unified voice in various global and regional issues, he said.
Malaysia hosted the 13th NAM Summit in 2003, more than 16 years ago when Dr Mahathir was the prime minister then. — Bernama