Malawi President, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, says his administration will only take into account benefits for citizens as the only condition to advance diplomatic relations with any country.
Writing on his Facebook page on Thursday after receiving Letters of Credence from non-resident envoys, the President said Malawi will cultivate and nurture ties with nations that have similar interests.
“Malawi continues to strengthen ties with nations that hold similar development aspirations so that we fully leverage on existing opportunities in a number of key areas such as trade and investment,” he wrote.
The President received credentials of envoys from Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Slovakia, Iran, Eswatini, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Philippines and Italy.
He added that “We will continue exploring new frontiers of global diplomacy for as long as it benefits our people.”
His sentiments come at a time African leaders are being pressured to take sides either for the Western bloc led by United States, European Union and United Kingdom or the opposite bloc that features China, Russia and Iran as main players.
Chakwera has previously spoken about Malawi’s non alignment saying the country cannot take sides within the global geopolitical tensions at the expense of Malawians’ need for day-to-day livelihoods.
Malawi continues to enjoy development outcomes from both blocs of global geopolitics. On one hand traditional development partners from the West have continued with their programmes while on the other hand the country maintains cordial relations with countries from the other bloc.
Just recently, Malawi received a donation of 20,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer from Russia which will be an important factor in food production this year and the next.