MAT SABU MEETS HSIEN LOONG
He also met his S’pore counterpart on sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue
SINGAPOREAN Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen yesterday met his newlyappointed Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Sabu, on the sidelines of the 17th ShangriLa Dialogue (SLD) in their first official meeting.
This is Mohamad’s inaugural visit to Singapore as defence minister.
According to a Singapore Defence Ministry statement, Dr Ng and Mohamad affirmed the warm and longstanding defence relations between the two countries.
It stated that they noted the good progress made in bilateral defence relations, such as the recent exercise between the two air forces.
In addition, Dr Ng and Mohamad affirmed both countries’ cooperation in regional multilateral platforms, such as the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM-Plus, and the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA).
They also discussed regional challenges, such as the situation in Rakhine State, said the statement.
Singapore and Malaysia’s defence establishments interact regularly across a range of activities, which includes bilateral exercises, visits and exchanges, cross-attendance of courses, as well as multilateral activities.
These interactions strengthened mutual understanding and professional ties among the personnel of both defence establishments, and underscore the warm and longstanding defence ties between both countries, the statement added.
Mohamad is visiting Singapore for three days from June 1 to attend SLD.
As part of his visit, he called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean.
He also met FPDA defence ministers at an informal breakfast hosted by Dr Ng.