Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen speaks in a press conference on May 29, 2019. (Photo: APF/VNA)Ina statement, the Singaporean Ministry of Defence said the two ministersreaffirmed their commitment to maintain and strengthen bilateral ties between the armed forces of the two countries.
"Bothmilitaries will work towards the resumption of bilateral and multilateralengagements and exercises when the COVID-19 situation improves," it said.
Theministers also discussed common security challenges, especially terrorism,cyber security and maritime security.
Theytalked about dealing with these transnational threats by cooperating with othercountries in regional multilateral platforms, such as the ASEAN DefenceMinisters' Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM , which involve 10 ASEAN states and eightdialogue partners.
Theministry also noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to preclude theconduct of a full-scale Exercise Bersama Lima involving the FPDA countries, ascaled down version would still be conducted this year to signal the strongcommitment of all five countries to this security arrangement.
BesidesSingapore and Malaysia, the FPDA also includes Australia, New Zealand and theUK.
Thelast Exercise Bersama Lima was held in October 2019. It was hosted by Malaysiaand involved about 3,000 troops from the five FPDA countries.
Duringthe virtual meeting, Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen also invited IsmailSabri to attend the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in June./.
VNA
