MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s warm reception by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Sept 5, 2024, may anticipate the return of Malaysia to the world stage of international affairs ("PM Anwar’s working visit to Vladivostok a major boost to Malaysia-Russia ties", The Star, Sept 6).
The last occasion when a meeting between a Malaysian prime minister and a leader of one of the great powers was visibly indicative of active foreign policy was in 2017, when then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak met with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Earlier, in 2014, then US president Barak Obama had also visited Kuala Lumpur.