New Malaysian government seeks warmer relations with Mongolia

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail met with President Kh.Battulga on July 4 in Ulaanbaatar as part of her visit to attend the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Malaysia’s ambassador to China who is concurrently accredited to Mongolia, Datuk Zainuddin Yahya, said he hoped the visit of Ismail would lead to the revival of relations between the two countries. While there have been no outward tensions between the two countries, the 2006 murder case of Mongolian national Sh.Altantuya in Malaysia has made relations lethargic. As a result, the first foreign visit by Malaysia’s new deputy prime minister was one of significance.

After exchanging pleasantries and welcoming the deputy prime minister to Mongolia, President Kh.Battulga wasted no time expressing his high expectations for fair court ruling of the murder case of Sh.Altantuya, requesting the deputy prime minister to pay attention to this matter.

The deputy PM responded that Malaysia was paying attention to the case, while citing the letter President Kh.Battulga sent to Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad regarding the matter, and her awareness of it. Ismail said that the government was being attentive toward bringing justice, implementing court decision, and settling the civil suit of the family of the victim fairly, as mentioned in the letter.

Ismail also talked about the audience the victim’s father S.Shaariibuu had with Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad after the letter was received, and expressed her willingness to pay attention to fair court ruling of the case, as everyone is equal before the law and the court regardless of his or her nationality. The deputy prime minister said that she will discuss the matter of responding to the letter of President Kh.Battulga with Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad after her return to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Ismail has been lauded by Malaysian media for her decision to forego a government jet to fly commercial to Ulaanbaatar.

“Although many initially thought she would have used the government jet, she reportedly opted to fly commercially and was even willing to transit for about six hours at the Narita International Airport in Japan before heading to Mongolia. On top of that, she also wanted to be put up in a normal hotel room at the Shangri-La Hotel, as she did not want excessive VIP treatment during her visit,” the Malaysian New Strait Times reported.

...President Kh.Battulga wasted no time expressing his high expectations for fair court ruling of the murder case of Sh.Altantuya...