M’sia Not A Pawn Of Major Powers In Defence Spending - Mohamed Khaled

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will continue to determine its defence spending priorities based on its financial capacity and national interests, without yielding to pressure or recommendations from major powers to increase its defence allocation to five per cent of Gross National Product (GNP).

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Malaysia was not a pawn of any major power and would remain committed to its policy of non-alignment and a defence doctrine focused on protecting national sovereignty, rather than attacking other countries.

He said calls to increase defence spending should be viewed in the context of major powers wanting other countries to be on the front lines should military confrontations or conflicts break out.

“Some countries have indeed recommended that we increase our defence spending to five per cent of GNP. The intention is for these major powers to have us at the forefront in the event of a confrontation, conflict or war.

“But we want to make it clear that we are not a pawn of any major power. We are independent and non-aligned. We will spend and allocate funds according to our means,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Mohamed Khaled was responding to a supplementary question from William Leong Jee Keen (PH-Selayang) on the security and economic implications for Malaysia arising from increased military spending by major powers in East Asia.

He said increased defence budgets by countries in the region were their respective sovereign decisions, which Malaysia could neither interfere with nor prevent.

In reply to Leong's original question on the current situation and developments in the Asia-Pacific region, Mohamed Khaled said the government did not interfere in the defence and security policies of other countries and respected every sovereign nation's right to determine its own policies.

However, he said this did not mean Malaysia was taking the matter lightly or failing to make the necessary preparations, given that efforts to maintain stability in the region's waters were becoming increasingly complex.

He said the readiness of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) was being strengthened through unilateral measures, including continuous asset modernisation, enhanced personnel training, a show of presence through patrols and surveillance, and the development of people's resilience and resistance, with the aim of establishing credible deterrence.

Apart from strengthening domestic readiness, Mohamed Khaled said Malaysia was also leveraging multilateral defence diplomacy through ASEAN platforms to preserve regional stability.

“Malaysia believes that for Southeast Asia to remain a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN). We must adopt a neutral approach, uphold ASEAN centrality, and remain firm and balanced.

“Any country seeking to engage with ASEAN must respect the principles and commitments enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. At the same time, all countries must also respect international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” he said.

He said Malaysia was also strengthening bilateral defence diplomacy with friendly countries such as Japan, Thailand, Australia and Germany through information sharing, expertise transfer, capacity building, and scheduled exercises and operations to enhance maritime domain awareness.

Meanwhile, he said the MAF aimed to adjust its personnel strength ratio between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak to 50:50, from the current ratio of about 80:20, to strengthen national border security.

He said the adjustment, involving the overall 130,000-strong armed forces personnel, would be taken into account in every new asset procurement and deployment, particularly to safeguard the country's economic resource interests in the South China Sea.

-- BERNAMA