Ishiba turns to Southeast Asia amid growing international uncertainty

With pledges to deepen security and economic cooperation, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wrapped up a four-day visit to Malaysia and Indonesia on Saturday designed to shore up ties with Southeast Asia as China expands its regional clout and Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House. Malaysia and Indonesia have long pursued a foreign policy based on neutrality and nonalignment and were among four Southeast Asian nations to have recently joined BRICS, a group of emerging economies that seeks to provide an alternative model to the Western-led Group of Seven. Against this backdrop, the visit likely also offered Ishiba the opportunity to better understand Malaysia and Indonesia’s geopolitical stance and why they have sought to hedge by engaging with non-Western groups such as BRICS, said Kei Koga, an associate professor at Singapore’s NTU This understanding will be crucial, as the trip also focused on expanding security cooperation with both countries, especially under Tokyo’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) framework.

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