Malaysia says axed Norway missile deal erodes global trust

(May 31): Malaysia ramped up its criticism of Norway’s recent decision to cancel a weapons deal, using the dispute as a launching pad to slam “stronger powers” for dismissing international rules and contracts when they become inconvenient.

“Norway’s action has created more than just a bilateral contract dispute,” Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said in a speech Sunday. Instead it “raises a deeply troubling question about whether international agreements and strategic partnerships can still be trusted at all.”

Oslo has said the deal — signed in 2011 for a US$2.8 billion (RM11.1 billion) naval strike missile system — was cancelled earlier this year because of a change in its export control regulations, which limits some sales to allies and closest partners.

“The issue before us is not only competition between nations,” Mohamed Khaled said, referring to how smaller states often bear the consequences for the choices of more powerful countries. “The deeper issue is the gradual erosion of trust within the rules-based global order and the international system.”

Malaysia has said it’s weighing offers for new missiles, without identifying the sellers. Mohamed Khaled said in an interview Saturday that US officials offered to sell Malaysia a replacement system.

Export control regulations are common and complex sets of rules are used by nations to limit the distribution of systems and technologies they consider sensitive, and usually require specific bilateral agreements on technology sharing or other high-level strategic partnerships.

The Malaysian speech stood out for its harsh criticism at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum in Singapore, with this year’s edition being a mostly cordial event.

While often a platform for Washington and China to take swipes at their actions in the region, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump and Xi Jinping’s personal connection had helped stabilise the region. He also applauded many allies for stepping up their efforts to help deter Beijing and maintain a balance of power.

Officials from Malaysia and Norway were also meeting Sunday after Mohamed Khaled’s speech.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has positioned the Southeast Asian country as a friend to several competing nations — from the US to Russia and China — while also taking opportunities to criticise them at times and championing the cause of the so-called Global South, shorthand for mostly developing nations unaligned with the US-led order.

Anwar, for instance, used the Asean leaders summit last year to curry favour with President Donald Trump, while keeping lines of communication open with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Mohamed Khaled in his remarks Sunday also criticised other nations for not calling out Norway, saying “this deafening silence sends a dangerous message that some countries are simply above scrutiny.”

“The same double standards are visible globally, where the ongoing genocide, war crimes, and violation of international law often receive selective reaction, depending on who is involved,” Mohamed Khaled said, echoing Kuala Lumpur’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon. “This blatant hypocrisy is profoundly destructive to the legitimacy and credibility of the rules-based international order.”