They included Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US president Joe Biden, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and even Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.

They were all quick to congratulate Anwar, an internationally-known figure who was seen as a victim of political fallout back home for more than two decades.

Many also marveled at his dramatic appointment after the 15th general election (GE15) that produced a hung parliament.

Today marks Anwar’s first 100 days in office, and he is expected to continue receiving calls and greetings from foreign leaders even after this milestone.

Aside from the phone calls, he has also received a number of foreign leaders who made a courtesy call on him and he visited five of the country’s immediate neighbours within his first 100 days in office.

Just four days after taking his oath of office, Anwar received Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei who arrived in Malaysia on Nov 28.

On Dec 8, he received Thai deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan and four days later, he received Timor-Leste’s president José Ramos-Horta.

The last leader he received before the 100-day milestone was German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Feb 17. In between, he received a number of ministers and emissaries sent by the respective countries to congratulate him and rekindle bilateral ties.

Among the foreign ministers who paid a courtesy call on Anwar were Singapore’s Vivian Balakrishnan and Australia’s Penny Wong.

Anwar wasted no time in fulfilling the tradition of paying courtesy calls on immediate neighbours after being appointed as prime minister, starting with Indonesia, followed by Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, and most recently, the Philippines.

During the visit to Jakarta from Jan 8-9, he met Indonesian president Joko Widodo at the Bogor Presidential Palace.

Anwar, who is known in Indonesia as a leader of political struggle and reforms, was also pleased to be able to meet many acquaintances, including religious, cultural and political figures, as well as former ministers, during his visit.

Among the matters discussed by both sides included issues involving the economy and bilateral investments; the development of Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara; border demarcation that had dragged on for 60 years; and Indonesian manpower in Malaysia.

After Indonesia, Anwar headed to Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei for a two-day visit from Jan 24-25 where he had an audience with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman.

During the visit, he said apart from the commitment to maintaining existing cooperation, Malaysia’s unity government under his leadership would strive to explore new strategic cooperation with Brunei.

He also welcomed the intention and offer from Brunei to invest in various high-potential economic sectors in Malaysia, including by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA).

After Brunei, Anwar headed to Singapore on Jan 30 for a one-day visit where, during his toast speech at a lunch hosted by his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in the republic, he said he saw food security as a new area to be explored with Singapore.

Lee, in his speech, said he and Anwar had a fruitful discussion including on how both countries could make progress on outstanding bilateral issues.

Meanwhile, Anwar held a meeting with his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-ocha on his maiden two-day official visit to Thailand from Feb 9-10.

Both leaders touched on outstanding issues including ending the conflict in south Thailand, where Malaysia has worked as the facilitator for the peace dialogue process.

Anwar and Prayuth agreed that political will is important in resolving the conflict with Malaysia’s help, and that violence in resolving the conflict will not be tolerated.

He also told his Thai counterpart that Asean should take coherent and concerted efforts as a regional body in solving the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, adding that Prayuth was in a better position to express the region’s concern about Myanmar.

Anwar’s most recent visit before reaching the 100-day mark was to the Philippines from March 1-2, and he was the first official guest of Ferdinand Marcos Jr since the latter’s appointment as the president of the republic on June 30, 2022.

The visit highlighted the importance of the Philippines as a neighbour and fellow member of Asean.

While in Manila, Anwar was conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of the Philippines as a scholar and an internationally-acclaimed expert on economics, democracy, freedom, governance, and Islam, among other things.

During a talk at the same university, he pointed out that decision-making by consensus continues to be the central tenet of Asean, but it did not mean the regional grouping should remain silent over developments in member states that affect the wider region.

Marcos, meanwhile, expressed optimism that the long-standing friendship between Manila and Kuala Lumpur would enable them to surpass the present and future challenges, which include “geopolitical upheavals, supply disruptions, and inflation.”

As Anwar and Turkey’s Erdogan enjoyed close friendship, it was not surprising that Malaysia was among the earliest to send a team to help rescue victims following the devastating earthquake which hit the country on Feb 6.

Anwar went further to show solidarity with Turkey when he went to see for himself the rescue efforts by the Malaysian teams there on Feb 15. Malaysia has so far pledged up to RM20 million in humanitarian aid for Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

It was certainly a busy first 100 days for Anwar in bilateral and international relations. More visits by Anwar to foreign countries and more visits by foreign leaders to Malaysia can be expected.