KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — With artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly redefining modern warfare, South-East Asian countries are called to rethink a collective regional security approach in an increasingly volatile world.
The Putrajaya Forum took place today against this backdrop, in conjunction with the 19th Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security (NATSEC) Asia 2026 exhibition, at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).
Themed “Asean Security at the Edge of Emerging Technologies”, the Putrajaya Forum aimed to shed insights on the urgent measures required for a stable, secure and prosperous region.
Setting the stage for the discourse, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah stressed on the need for governance and regulation of emerging technologies before deploying them.
“By 2040, AI could be a million times more powerful than it is today.
“Yet, raw power has very little to do with wisdom, and nothing at all to do with values — and it is values, ultimately, that determine whether a technology serves humanity or threatens it,” Sultan Nazrin said in royal his keynote address today.
“An AI that divides is, in a meaningful sense, a weapon, even if no one intended it as such.
“The question of what values are encoded in these systems, and whose values they are, is therefore not a matter for technologists alone. It is a matter of statecraft,” the Perak ruler stressed.
Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah delivers his royal keynote address during the Putrajaya Forum 2026 at MITEC in Kuala Lumpur on April 21, 2026. — Picture by Yusof Isa
INFORMATION DOMINANCE IS KEY
Echoing similar concerns, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin pointed out that the region’s collective security rests on its ability to understand, adapt and act together.
Khaled said the disruptive nature of emerging technologies and their convergence has brought forward entirely new paradigms and capabilities in warfare.
The future battlefield, he said, will be characterised by connectivity, lethality and precision.
Khaled stressed that information dominance holds the greatest edge in such battlefields.
“In this approach, the hardware is secondary to the digital backbone, computing infrastructure, data and AI.
“Therefore, we must optimise emerging technologies and integrated command systems to collect, process and act upon data faster than our adversaries,” he said.
Drawing lessons from recent global conflicts, Khaled noted that expensive state-of-the-art platforms alone are not adequate to deal with high-intensity conflicts.
Instead, he said the deployment of large numbers of low-cost and expendable systems, such as mass-produced drones, could be more sustainable and effective solutions.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin delivers his opening remarks at the Putrajaya Forum 2026 at MITEC in Kuala Lumpur on April 21, 2026. — Picture by Yusof Isa
PUTTING CLIMATE SECURITY ON THE FOREFRONT
While the ravages of climate change is currently rivalling traditional security challenges, the subject often sits on the sidelines of the defence agenda.
Sultan Nazrin, however, urged for world leaders — particularly the Asean member states — to make planetary health a central security agenda.
Describing climate change as “the most under-acknowledged security threat of our era”, Sultan Nazrin said ecological breakdown has led to displacements, food insecurity and state fragility which triggers conflict.
“To treat planetary health as a separate conversation from security is not merely an analytical error; it is a strategic one,” he warned.
While acknowledging the socio-economic benefits of the surge in tech investments in South-East Asia, the Perak ruler said corporations benefiting from the region’s infrastructure should bear a proportionate share of its environmental costs.
“Environmental security is not a luxury agenda to be deferred until wealthier times.
“A region that cannot feed itself, water itself or protect its coastlines from inundation cannot be secure in any meaningful sense, however sophisticated its military technologies,” he said.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin accompanying Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah during a visit to the Defence Service Asia (DSA) and National Security Asia (Natsec) exhibition on April 21, 2026. — Picture by Yusof Isa
