KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Malaysia and the United States (US) are slated to sign a bilateral defence pact today, marking the first formal security arrangement between both nations.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference today, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the agreement will be signed on the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
“Malaysia and US have always a very good relationship and being a part of Asean, it has always been our policy is to adopt a neutral stance,” said Mohamed Khaled.
“That’s why we have various military ties with the US, China and other countries.
“Although we have that relationship, we do not have any kind of formal arrangement with the US.
“So we feel that now is the time to do a formal arrangement between two countries because the number of (military) activities and trading between the two countries. That is why we will sign the MoU on defence between the two countries.”
However, he did not divulge the details of the agreement.
Khaled is also slated to meet United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later today.
Hegseth arrived in Malaysia — the first stop in his four-nation Asia tour — on Wednesday to attend the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) this Saturday.
Khaled said Malaysia’s increasing military collaborations and trainings with the US necessitates a formal security arrangement.
On a related development, he also lauded the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea as a “good development” to ease the months-long trade tensions that has gripped the world.
“For us, the US is a proponent of peace and security and China is a proponent of prosperity.
“That is also reflected in the theme we have selected for the ADMM and ADMM-Plus this year, which is ‘Asean Unity for Security and Prosperity’,” Khaled said.
Trump and Xi signed off on a breakthrough deal today during the pair’s first meeting in six years in South Korea today.
Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47 per cent, provided Beijing resumes buying American soybeans, continue exports of rare earth minerals and stamp out illegal trade of fentanyl.
Top US and Chinese officials scrambled to put together the preliminary framework for the trade truce on the sidelines of the 47th Asean Summit at Kuala Lumpur.
The ADMM and ADMM-Plus — last in the series of high-stakes meetings under the Asean Summit banner — will take place on October 31 and November 1.
