French defence minister calls on Najib

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today held a high-profile meeting here with French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and French defence industry representatives.

The meeting, which lasted for about an hour, was held during a courtesy call to Najib at the prime minister's office in Perdana Putra here.

According to a member of Le Drian's delegation, the meeting which was also attended by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, among others, discussed on Malaysia's interest to purchase Mistral helicopter carriers.

Le Drian will also co-chair the French-Malaysian Defence Joint High Strategic Committee with his Malaysian counterpart Hishammuddin later today.

The French Tribune newspaper recently suggested that Malaysia was also a possible contender for purchasing one of the Mistral aircraft carriers which had been ordered by Russia from STX France before being cancelled after the Ukrainian standoff in 2014.

According to the French newspaper La Tribune, Malaysia had been interested in buying an aircraft carrier similar to a Mistral for at least 10 years. – Bernama