KUALA LUMPUR /Malaysia/, December 9. /TASS/. Malaysia will increase its freedom of "diplomatic maneuvering" and its role in world affairs after becoming BRICS partner, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told reporters on the sidelines of the 15th Asian Conference of the Valdai Club.
"It will have the opportunity to expand the freedom of its diplomatic maneuvering and thus increase its role in world affairs," he said, answering a question from TASS on Malaysia's cooperation with BRICS.
Rudenko noted that BRICS is an organization with a very broad mandate and a large number of participants covering all regions of the world. "Moreover, BRICS is one of the pillars of the emerging multipolar world order," he added.
Earlier, Malaysian Ambassador to Moscow Cheong Loon Lai told TASS that the country has agreed to become a partner of the association.
The 15th Asian conference of the Valdai Discussion Club is held in Kuala Lumpur on December 9-10. The event is being organized in cooperation with the Bait Al Amanah Foundation (Malaysia), the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan), and the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP, Malaysia).