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Minister for Defence of Ng Eng Hen met with his counterpart, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin yesterday (Jun. 2), at the Shangri-La hotel.

Austin is currently on an official visit to the Indo-Pacific region.

Singapore is the second location of his visit, where he attended and addressed the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday (Jun. 3).

In his speech, Austin called for peace in the Taiwan Strait and said that while the U.S. does not seek conflict, it will also not flinch in the face of provocation.

Military-to-military exchanges

During the meeting, according to a press release from the Ministry of Defence, Ng expressed appreciation for the U.S.'s support for the Singapore Armed Forces' training in the U.S., including basing the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) training detachments there.

Singapore and the U.S. defence establishments regularly interact through military-to-military exchanges, training, cross-attendance of courses, and defence technology cooperation.

In 2019, both Singapore and the U.S. renewed the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Regarding United States Use of Facilities in Singapore. In August 2021, an MOU on cooperation in cyberspace was concluded to institutionalise cyber defence cooperation between the two establishments.

In April this year, the RSAF's F-16 fighter aircraft Peace Carvin II and Apache AH-64 helicopter Peace Vanguard detachments commemorated their 30th and 20th anniversaries of training in the US respectively.

Ng and Austin looked forward to opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation, especially through RSAF's acquisition and operationalisation of the F-35Bs fighter jets.

Long-standing bilateral defence relationship

Ng and Austin also discussed geopolitical developments in the Asia-Pacific region. They both agreed on the importance of the U.S. continued engagement in the region.

Austin expressed his appreciation for Singapore's consistent support for the U.S. military presence in the Southeast Asian region, including the hosting of rotational deployments.

They exchanged views on ways to build a robust, open, and inclusive regional architecture, with the U.S. reaffirming their contributions to defence capacity building through the Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.

According to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, the two leaders "reaffirmed their abiding commitment to uphold the rules-based international order—including respect for territorial sovereignty, freedom of navigation, and the rule of law—across the Indo-Pacific."

The press release also mentioned "unwavering support" for Asean centrality and unity, a point that was also made in Austin's speech, as well as its "crucial role" in contributing to regional stability.

Meeting with Malaysian defence minister

In addition, Ng also met with his Malaysian counterpart, Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan.

Mohamad, an Umno politician commonly known as "Tok Mat", reaffirmed the leaders' mutual dedication to deepening trust, expanding collaboration, and enhancing the partnership between both defence establishments.

Both leaders also acknowledged the "critical role" of regional multilateral platforms, like the ADMM, the ADMM-Plus and the Five Power Defence Arrangements, according to a press release from the Ministry of Defence.

The Five Power Defence Arrangements are a series of defence relationships which both Singapore and Malaysia are a part of, but not the U.S. The other countries involved are the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

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Top image via Ng Eng Hen/Facebook.