Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen visited Bahrain and attended the 12th Manama Dialogue from 9 to 10 Dec 2016. Dr Ng spoke at the Third Plenary Session today on "Combating Extremism in the Middle East and Beyond", alongside French Minister of Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Federal Minister of Defence Dr Ursula von der Leyen. 

In his speech, Dr Ng noted that as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) lost ground in Iraq and Syria, foreign fighters would attempt to return to their home countries to perpetrate attacks, spread ISIS' extremist ideology and establish another self-proclaimed caliphate outside of the Middle East. 

Noting that the problem transcends borders and nationality, Dr Ng said that "But there is more that we can do, within the region and internationally. When we work together, it strengthens capabilities and interoperability and demonstrates our shared commitment to counter terrorism in our region… I have proposed that ASEAN and regional countries intensify efforts to combine resources, share intelligence, and build capacity and trust between our counter-terrorism agencies. This approach is also scalable, and grows more effective as more players contribute… We also need to work with counter-terrorism organisations in this part of the world and look forward to working with you." 

He added that "the battle against extremist terrorism is, at its heart, an ideological one. We need to counter ISIS' spread of falsehoods and half-truths that have led astray many susceptible victims, many youngsters from around the world. Behind each statistic are lives blighted and families torn apart… Together, we can defeat violent extremism and terrorism and the hate it perpetuates. We must be vigilant and persist in our efforts to make our countries and regions a safer place for our people who pursue peace and religious tolerance."

Singapore has been attending the Manama Dialogue since its inception in 2004. Organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Manama Dialogue is a key security forum for the Gulf region and serves as a platform for senior defence, security and foreign affairs officials from around the world, and in particular the Middle East to discuss regional security challenges. 

While in Bahrain, Dr Ng called on Bahrain's Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa; as well as the Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force His Royal Highness Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Both sides reaffirmed the strong and multifaceted relationship between Singapore and Bahrain. Dr Ng also expressed Singapore's appreciation to Bahrain for the support it provided to the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) deployments to the Middle East, as part of the counter-ISIS coalition. 

On the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue, Dr Ng also had bilateral meetings with several leaders, including Dr von der Leyen; Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Sameh Shoukry; Iraq's Vice President His Excellency Ayad Allawi; Kuwait's President of the Kuwaiti National Security Bureau Shiekh Thamer Ali Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah; Saudi Arabia's Chairman of the Board, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud; and the UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.