Mattis is someone I can work with, says Hisham
SINGAPORE: “Someone I can work with,” says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in describing the United States’s new Secretary of Defence General (Rtd) James Mattis.
“Sincere, honest, high integrity, keen to understand us,” he said in his Twitter account after a Malaysia-US bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue 2017 here.
Hishammuddin was in Singapore for the 16th edition of the Asia Security Summit organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) for three days, from Friday.
Besides Mattis, he held bilateral meetings with a few of his counterparts, namely Singapore’s Dr Ng Eng Hen; Indonesia’s General (Rtd) Ryamizard Ryacudu; Australia’s Senator Marise Payne; France’s Sylvie Goulard; and Japan’s Tomomi Inada.
“The discussions focused on matters related to bilateral and multilateral defence relations, especially our roles in facing the dynamics of regional security environments,” said Hishammuddin in a statement yesterday.
At the dialogue, Hishammuddin had a slot to speak on the topic, “New Challenges for Crisis Management in the AsiaPacific”, alongside Canada National Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Pakistan Armed Forces, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat.
During his address, Hishammuddin highlighted the five challenges that he felt were most relevant at present, among them the proliferation of the Islamic State’s Asia-Pacific ambitions, the escalating tension and volatility in the Korean Peninsula, and inconsistencies in the quest for hegemony over the South China Sea.
In addressing these challenges, he proposed five solutions, among them, championing moderation within and across borders, and renewing commitments to regional and international cooperation. Bernama