Malaysia will not rush to increase its defence budget despite pressure from the United States for partners to become more self-reliant, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
According to Bloomberg,Khaled said any decision on defence spending would be made based on Malaysia’s own priorities.
“It doesn’t mean that we will implement it immediately because America says so,” he said.
Khaled said Malaysia must balance defence spending with the needs of other sectors, noting that the country is still developing.
“Our budget needs to be allocated to various sectors because we are not a developed nation,” he said.
