Ng Eng Hen congratulates newly-elected Malaysian counterpart

Singapore – The Defence Minister of Singapore congratulated his Malaysian counterpart through a letter which highlighted the “longstanding defence ties” the two countries share.

On Tuesday (March 10), Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen sent a congratulatory letter to the newly-elected Malaysian Defence Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob.

After greeting his Malaysian counterpart, Minister Ng noted the “longstanding and deepening defence ties between Singapore and Malaysia” and hoped that the two countries could “forge better relations together.”

According to Minister Ng, Singapore and Malaysia share such defence ties through their “regular high-level visits, exercises, and professional exchanges across all levels.” He noted how these interactions “have built up channels of communication, enhanced mutual understanding and trust, and fostered strong people-to-people ties between our defence establishments.”

He added that both Singapore and Malaysia are “close partners” in regional platforms such as the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM-Plus, and the Malacca Straits Patrol.

Minister Ng is confident that under Malaysia’s new Defence Minister, the defence relations between the two countries will continue to grow stronger. He then extended an invitation for Minister Ismail to visit Singapore. “I would be delighted to host you for an introductory visit to Singapore when your schedule allows,” said Mr Ng. “I look forward to seeing you soon,” he added.

Netizens were pleased to see a “good neighbourhood relationship” between the two countries and noted that the letter and invitation was a “good move” by Minister Ng.

“We have to work together within this region to safeguard the sovereignty of our ASEAN’s nations now despite the Covid-19, which is not an excuse,” noted netizen Vincent Soh.

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