00:00Two analysts have played down concerns over the lack of a phone call between Prime Minister
00:06Anwar Ibrahim and US President Donald Trump, saying it is not a big issue.
00:12Azmi Hassan of Academy Nusantara said Trump had been in communication with leaders of
00:17countries who face challenges with other nations, or those who have run into issues with his
00:23foreign policies, including Mexico, Colombia and Canada.
00:28He said as long as Malaysia stays off Trump's radar and avoids unnecessary attention, Malaysia
00:34should be fine.
00:36Azmi said that he did not think Trump would entertain an invitation to attend the ASEAN
00:41summit, no matter who from Putrajaya sent the invitation.
00:45Instead, he said it would be sufficient if US Secretary of State Marco Rubio were to
00:51attend the summit.
00:54O Ae Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs believes that the extremely preoccupied
00:59Trump is in no rush to take a call from Malaysia, a country that has not particularly taken
01:05the American side in the ongoing China-US trade war.
01:10On Friday, former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming accused Malaysia's ambassador to the US, Nazry Aziz,
01:16of failing to arrange a phone call between Anwar and Trump, adding that these calls were
01:21crucial signals in the diplomatic community.
Comments