Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Malaysia on Saturday, May 19 to meet his counterpart, the newly sworn-in Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The meeting took place at Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

This is the first time both leaders are meeting as sitting premiers.

PM Lee signed a guestbook before the meeting while Mahathir looked on.

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was also at the visit, along with both prime ministers' wives.

The visit can be seen as one to secure and formalise working relations with the new government formed by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance.

Touching base with our closest neighbour

PM Lee said at the start of the meeting:

"You are our nearest and closest neighbour, so when this happened I thought I would come up soon, touch base, renew our links."

Before going to Malaysia, PM Lee told parliament on Wednesday, May 16 that he would tell Mahathir he looks forward to "working with him again for mutual benefit".

He added that when Mahathir was the fourth prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, both countries had completed joint projects such as the Second Link in Tuas.

High-speed rail

Previously, during his election campaign, Mahathir said ongoing foreign projects will be reviewed, such as the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR), for the benefit of the nation and the Malaysian people.

However, PM Lee said during the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat before the Malaysia election, that the agreement for the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) was binding, regardless of a change in government.

Still, when it comes to projects funded by Chinese investors, Mahathir did say on Thursday, May 17 that they "will respect all agreements", providing a glimpse into his intentions for ongoing foreign projects.

An optimistic reading of the situation will be that the HSR project is unlikely to be cancelled, but a delay is most likely expected.

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Meeting Anwar next

PM Lee will visit Kuala Lumpur next to meet Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir's designated successor after he steps down in one to two years' time.

The popular opposition figure was recently freed after being granted a royal pardon by the Malaysian constitutional king.

Top image via Prime Minister's Office