Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing meets with M'sian PM Anwar during his introductory visit to KL

Singapore’s Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing met with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Aug. 26, part of his introductory visit to Malaysia.

Cooperation and appreciation

Chan met with Anwar at Malaysia’s parliament, and both men reaffirmed the close and longstanding bilateral relationship between the two countries.

According to Anwar’s social media post on the meeting, Anwar and Chan discussed cooperation in regional security and defence, in line with Asean’s aspirations to maintain peace and stability in Southeast Asia.

Anwar expressed his gratitude to Singapore for supporting the Cambodia-Thailand peace dialogue earlier in the month.

He also shared his appreciation of Singapore’s 60th anniversary of independence, and his hopes for the Singapore-Malaysia Annual Leaders’ Retreat, due in December.

Good meetings

Chan would later say he had many good meetings with his Malaysian counterparts and Anwar, with several areas of agreement between Singapore and Malaysia.

Chan said that the nature of security and economic challenges that both countries faced had changed, with many involving not just the two countries, but impacting both, such as cybersecurity challenges or the protection of critical infrastructure.

Both countries would need to work together to seize new opportunities and overcome these challenges.

Chan said that the visit to Malaysia had planted the seeds “for future generations to work together”, but it was most important to “plant the seeds of trust and mutual confidence in one another”.

A prosperous, successful, and self-assured Malaysia is good for Singapore, Chan said, just as a prosperous, successful, and self-assured Singapore was good for Malaysia, and both countries’ futures are “very much intertwined together”.

Counterparts

As part of his visit, he also met with his Malaysian counterpart, Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the day before on Aug. 25.

Both ministers witnessed the signing of the Arrangement for Mutual Submarine Rescue Support and Cooperation between the navies of both countries.

Bernama quoted Mohamed Khaled as saying that Singapore had raised a proposal pertaining to undersea infrastructure security, and that they had also shared experiences in cybersecurity, particularly involving drone and unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

Top image via Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook