Malaysia and Australia affirm security cooperation

BUTTERWORTH: Malaysia and Australia will continue to strengthen and enhance their existing close bilateral cooperation on security matters, especially the concern over regional terrorist threats.
The matter was discussed during the inaugural Malaysia-Australia High Level Committee on Defence Cooperation (HLC) meeting at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne. Both were updated on the progress of the cooperation under the Malaysia-Australia Joint Defence Programme (MAJDP), which affirmed the importance of working together in strengthening the bilateral defence of both nations.
"Both ministers agreed that the threat of terrorism is a key regional concern, including the return of foreign terrorist fighters from overseas conflicts.
"They also reiterated the commitment to work together bilaterally and multilaterally to enhance the defence cooperation to counter terrorism and identify ways to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation between both nations and acknowledge the Perth Meeting as an important forum for this undertaking," said the statement.
The meeting was co chaired by Mohamad and Payne during the latter's official visit to RMAF.
Also present were Chief of Defense Forces General Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin and RMAF chief General Tan Sri Affendi Buang.
The statement further stated that both ministers affirmed their commitment to the Five Power Defence Agreement (FPDA) as an integral part of the region's security architecture.
The inaugural HLC occurred during the 60th anniversary celebration of Australia's presence at the RMAF base in Butterworth.
Mohamad and Payne also planted a tree at Wisma Perwira in conjunction with the celebration.
Both of them took time to visit Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System (HQIADS) and the 18th Squadron of the RMAF at the base.