Sultan Sharafuddin grants audience to Defence Minister

SHAH ALAM: Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah today granted an audience to Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu for the first time at Istana Bukit Kayangan here, since the Kota Raja MP was appointed federal minister on May 21.
Sultan Sharafuddin is the Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
Also present at the meeting which lasted about an hour, was Navy Chief, Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.
Mohamad Sabu, who was later met by reporters, said the sultan touched on various topics for the ministry's attention, some of which were related to equipment and procurement as well as efforts to continue empowering the RMN.
"He gave valuable advice to the ministry to ensure that all available assets and equipment are always on standby mode, and if there is need for a purchase (new assets and equipment), it must be in line with the current needs of the navies worldwide.
"As the South China Sea is fought over by major powers, Malaysia (through the RMN) must always be in a state of preparedness, not for war but as a control to safeguard the vast territorial waters and national sovereignty," he said.
On the issue of the South China Sea, Mohamad Sabu said that while attending the 17th edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Singapore recently, the ministry emphasised Malaysia's stand as a neutral country that did not support any conflict brought to the South China Sea.
He said the matter was raised and discussed in the dialogue with about 20 defence ministers from around the world, including United States Secretary of Defence James Mattis.
"The waters of the country that involve the South China Sea are vast, therefore, we do not want any conflict between big powers to be brought here. Until now, we are in compliance with the Safe, Free and Non-Aligned (Zopfan) Zone agreement," he said. — Bernama