S’pore, Japan reaffirm bilateral defence ties

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Japan on Wednesday reaffirmed their warm and friendly bilateral defence ties.

Singapore’s Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen, who is conducting his introductory visit to Japan, met with his counterpart Satoshi Morimoto at the Japan Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.

Prior to the meeting, Dr Ng inspected a Guard of Honour, in a ceremony held at the ministry.

During the meeting, Dr Ng and Mr Morimoto discussed bilateral defence cooperation and security developments in the Asia—Pacific region.

Both ministers noted the steady growth of defence interactions since the signing of the Memorandum on Defence Exchanges in December 2009.

Both defence establishments have been conducting regular exchange of visits, policy dialogues, military staff talks and cross—attendance of courses and seminars.

The two ministers also reaffirmed their commitment towards multilateral cooperation under the auspices of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)—Plus and welcomed Japan and Singapore’s partnership in co—chairing the ADMM—Plus Experts’ Working Group on Military Medicine.

They also expressed strong support for the ADMM—Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine exercise to be held in Brunei next year.

Dr Ng met Chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee Yasukazu Hamada and exchanged views on regional developments.

Earlier in the morning, Dr Ng visited the Japan Self—Defense Forces Central Hospital where he was briefed on its operation, expertise and scope of responsibilities.

— CNA/cc