WASHINGTON: As the finer details of the just-concluded tour of a number of Asian countries by US.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta are emerging, an interesting fact that has come to light is the ‘unusually strong interest’ Panetta showed in regard to forging closer military cooperation between the US and Malaysia.
Panetta, who held a series of bilateral and trilateral meetings with Asian allies at the so-called Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, rounded up all his meetings with a one-on-one meeting with Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Pentagon press secretary George Little confirmed in a statement that the two leaders agreed to strengthen the bilateral military-to-military relationship.
“During the meeting, both leaders stated that with a renewed focus on Asia as part of the US defence strategy, they look forward to strengthening the U.S.-Malaysia military–to-military relationship, including expansion of multilateral exercises,” Little said.
Panetta, according to Little, specifically thanked Ahmad Zahid for making Malaysian armed forces medical personnel available for deployment in Afghanistan.
Military experts expect the US administration to follow up with Malaysia on greater defence cooperation after Panetta’s initial talks with Ahmad Zahid.
Panetta, who also later visited Vietnam and India, used his Singapore visit to gather ‘first-hand information’ in his bilateral meetings with his counter parts from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia and host country Singapore, also reinforced the US presence in Asia.
The US administration, as defence experts here say, will strengthen its engagement in the Southeast Asian region which, many countries fear, can come under China’s domination, even though Washington has officially stated that this move was not aimed against any country in particular. — Bernama