Singapore and Australia Reaffirm Close and Long-standing Bilateral Defence Relations

Senior Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman sharing a warm handshake with Australian Minister for Defence Marise Payne.

Senior Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman is in Perth, Australia from 1 to 2 February 2018 to attend the Sub-Regional Defence Ministers' Meeting on Counter-Terrorism: The Perth Meeting. This inaugural meeting, hosted by Australian Minister for Defence Marise Payne, involves seven countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

As part of his visit, Dr Maliki met with Ms Payne today to discuss the growing regional terrorism threat. The ministers agreed on the importance of regional cooperation on counter-terrorism (CT) through platforms like this inaugural meeting and Singapore's ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Chairmanship in 2018, with Australia expressing support for CT focus areas such as Chemical, Biological and Radiological defence, and the rehabilitation of extremists.

Both ministers emphasised the close and long-standing defence relationship and history of military cooperation between both armed forces, including the Singapore Armed Forces and the Australian Defence Force's joint deployments in the Middle East as part of the Defeat-ISIS coalition. They reaffirmed the value of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and agreed to continue furthering defence cooperation.