Reflections from London: Shaping bilateral ties with a more active UK

HELD up by conflicting schedules and a general election which saw the Labour party, having hibernated in their winter of discontent for 15 years, finally returning to power with an overwhelming majority, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's working visit to London couldn't have been longer in the making.

Policymakers on both sides acutely aware of the need for a high-level engagement had kept their noses to the grindstone to ensure it happened. Being in the thick of things might rule me out as a "detached commentator" but sometimes reflecting from afar runs the risk of being shortsighted. So, here's my, perhaps, not too impartial take on the four-day official visit to the United Kingdom.