Malaysia in five-nation agreement to counter new common threats - Hishammuddin

Malaysia has agreed to collaborate with Indonesia, Qatar, Pakistan and Turkey to strengthen their relationship in facing common new threats.

Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today said representatives from the five countries agreed to work together in countering extremist ideologies, interoperability of assets and operation transformation.

He said the agreement was reached at a meeting he held yesterday on the sidelines of the ongoing Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2017 (LIMA '17) here.

It involved Qatar's State for Defence Affairs Minister, Dr Khalid Mohammad Al-Attiyah; Turkey's Deputy National Defence Minister, Suay Alpay; Pakistan Defence Production Minister, Rana Tanveer Hussain; and Indonesia's Technology and Defence Industry Director, Brig-Gen Dr Pieter Ate.

"We are all facing the same challenges, (for instance) prices of oil had affected Qatar and their (defence) planning. They want to know how we are managing with that challenge," he told a press conference after delivering the keynote address for the LIMA '17 Chiefs of Navy Round Table Talk here.

Hishammuddin said the agreement was not a mere rhetoric as they planned to proceed with the formation of a working group who will meet in Istanbul, Turkey this April before a ministerial-level meeting in Doha, Qatar.

He said the five-nation meeting also came timely after a plan by Malaysia and Saudi Arabia to form a King Salman International Centre for Global Peace earlier this month.

"Global movement of moderates could be intensified through the collaboration of these five countries," he added. -- Bernama