Singapore and Philippines agreed
to conduct annual defense dialogue at senior official level to strengthen its bilateral
defense cooperation. In a statement from Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) said that
this was agreed as Defense Minister Eng Hen met his counterpart with the Philippine
Secretary of National Defense Gazmin.
Following up the Singapore
President Keng Yam visit to Philippines last April, Dr Ng and Gazmin's
discussions focused on maintaining regional stability, threatened by the disputes
over South China Sea involving Philippines, China, and ASEAN countries.
"We
are not a claimant state. We have no vested interest on who wins what, but we
do have a vested interest in preserving the stability of the region and we
recognise that because of the South China Sea, it can destabilise the region,"
Ng said.
Singapore focused on building the
Declaration of Conduct signed by the ASEAN members and China, in 2002. The
declaration spells out what dispute claimants can and should not do.
"We also agreed on the resolution
of issues in South China Sea (through) diplomatic initiatives and not military
ones," Dr Ng said. Both countries have long history of its military
engagement, including the joint military exercises, which stopped about two
decades ago.
"Much have changed since 20 years
ago, there were new challenges. Geopolitics was different. It is important to
refresh relations and find a firmer footing."
New challenges include radical
extremists like Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He also noted the recent
experience of the Filipino peacekeepers who escaped rebels in Syria is
instructive. The sharing information on combating extremists and terrorists as aims
of the bilateral defense policy dialogue starting 2015.
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