Malaysia To Carry Joint Defense Exercises With Brunei
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (IslamOnline) - Malaysia said it would defend its long existing "special relations" with Brunei, Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak said on Monday.
"The special relations between Malaysia and Brunei will be defended and any possible aspects will be strengthened in the future for the good of both countries," he said while speaking to a group of Malaysians in Brunei Darussalam.
Najib went on a short official visit to the only Malay sultanate outside the Malaysian federation of states with the bid to renew relations with the tiny oil rich nation, officials in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline.
The Malaysian defense minister discussed defense issues with the Sultan of Brunei. Both countries have special ties involving their combined air, land and sea forces.
Brunei borders the state of Sarawak in Borneo and has road and sea links with the Malaysian state.
Najib added that both countries did not face any defense problems and were communicating with each other in order to organize joint military exercises. The two countries have already agreed on the shared use of their "air corridors," he added.
Elaborating on the special relations between the two Southeast Asian countries, Najib said they are not only in terms of official "country-to-country" ties but also "face-to-face" relations between senior officials and leaders.
The Sultan of Brunei, Yang Di-Pertuan Hasanal Bolkiah, met with Najib Tun Razak at the Istana Nurul Iman.
"My visit, for example, is a short visit but it is received with full specialty and this reflects the close relations between Brunei and Malaysia," Najib said.
He urged Malaysians working and living in Brunei to defend the special relations between the two countries by fostering closer relations with the people of the Sultanate.
The cooperation in defense between Brunei and Malaysia has developed further since the two ASEAN nations signed the memorandum of understanding in the area of defense in February 1992.
The Sultan of Brunei, it is reported, bailed out the Malaysian government with investments in the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) at the peak of the 1998 economic crisis.
