PETALING JAYA, Oct 13 — Malaysia has good relations with other countries and allows their ships to dock here, except those from Israel, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the arrival of two naval ships from China at the Penang Port recently is not an issue that should be blown out of proportion.

"We have joint military operations in our areas with the United States, China, Singapore, Indonesia and India... so, what is the problem?

"To me, there is no problem as this has been going on for a long time. If during the previous government (administrations) with PAS (and) Bersatu, Israeli aircraft could pass through, docking at our ports was no issue, but now it has become an issue.

"We want to clarify our good relations with other countries. Their ships want to dock at our ports, we allow them, no compromise, those we do not allow are from Israel. The others can dock... that’s the policy we adopt now but has become an issue,” he said.

The Prime Minister said this when officiating the 78th Annual General Meeting of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) here today.

Anwar said allegations by certain parties that the arrival of the naval ships was as if they were ready to attack and take over the country should not have happened.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was quoted as saying that the docking of the two naval ships from China at the Penang Port was routine and should not have been blown out of proportion.

Mohamad said the Chinese delegation had also sought official approval from his ministry pertaining to their visit to a private school in Penang.