Japan Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen called on Minister for Defence Mr Chan Chun Sing at the Shangri-La Hotel on the sidelines of the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) this morning. Mr Chan welcomed Mr Nakatani back to the SLD, as he had attended the inaugural edition in 2002. 

During the meeting, both Ministers reaffirmed the warm and friendly bilateral defence relationship between Singapore and Japan. Both sides discussed strengthening bilateral defence cooperation to tackle common challenges faced by Singapore and Japan, including cyber exchanges, and enhancing research and collaboration in defence technology. As country coordinator of ASEAN-Japan dialogue relations, Mr Chan reiterated Singapore’s commitment to work closely with Japan to enhance regional peace and security, including on the ADMM-Plus.  

The defence establishments of Singapore and Japan also have regular high-level exchanges and close people-to-people ties strengthened by cross-attendance of courses and frequent military-to-military interactions.