Australia DPM meets Singapore leaders, reaffirms defence relationship with Singapore
SINGAPORE — Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing on June 1.
Mr Marles, who was in town for the Shangri-La Dialogue, also called on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his visit.
At their dinner meeting, Mr Chan and Marles reaffirmed Singapore and Australia's close and long-standing bilateral defence relationship, which extends to the Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus and Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), Mindef said in a statement.
The two leaders also looked forward to strengthening defence cooperation under the next phase of their countries' Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
These include areas such as support for expanded access to facilities in each other's country, and deeper cooperation in defence science and technology, as well as defence logistics and supply chains.
Singapore and Australia said previously that they intend to sign an ambitious and wide-ranging new CSP in 2025, when the two countries celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations.
The new agreement would build on a 'great track record' of cooperation achieved since the first CSP was signed in 2015, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in Dec 2024 at the 14th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee meeting here.
The ADMM-Plus, which had been meeting annually since 2017, is a platform for Asean and its eight dialogue partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States – to strengthen security and defence cooperation in the region.
The FPDA is an arrangement among Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom, which first took form in 1971 to safeguard the external defence of Singapore and Malaysia, amid the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore.
At their June 1 meeting, Mr Chan further expressed appreciation for Australia's support for the joint development of training areas in Australia, which will benefit both armed forces through an increase in training capacity and more sophisticated training opportunities.
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel will have access to training areas in Australia that are approximately 10 times the size of the city-state by 2028, when the expanded Shoalwater Bay Training Area and the new Greenvale Training Area in Queensland are completed, the SAF said previously.
Mr Marles was in Singapore with a delegation of senior Australian officials, including Admiral David Johnston, Australia's chief of defence force, and Mr Greg Moriarty, who is secretary of its Department of Defence.
Earlier in the day, Mr Chan also hosted a ministerial roundtable, and met with Sweden Minister for Defence Pål Jonson, and Indian Armed Forces Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan.
The 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue was attended by more than 40 minister-level representatives, and another 40-plus chiefs of defence forces and senior defence officials from 47 countries.
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