SINGAPORE - Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Mohamad Maliki Osman affirmed the strong bilateral and defence relationship between Singapore and Bahrain at a security forum in Bahrain over the weekend, the Ministry of Defence said in a release on Sunday (Nov 24).
At a special session during the event, Dr Maliki spoke on the global and regional challenges surrounding cyber security, highlighting the evolving landscape of cyber threats, and stressing the need for collective responsibility. He also urged the development of internationally accepted cyber norms to manage these emerging issues.
Held from Friday till Sunday, the 15th Manama Dialogue was organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies and is a key security forum for the Gulf region.
The annual dialogue sees senior defence, security and foreign affairs officials from around the world gather to discuss security challenges in the Middle East and beyond.
Mindef said that Dr Maliki was hosted to dinners by the King of Bahrain Hamad Isa Al Khalifa, and by Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Relations, Shaikh Dr Abdullah Ahmed Al Khalifa.
He also met several defence leaders in Bahrain, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force Field, Marshal Shaikh Khalifa Ahmed Al Khalifa, where they affirmed the bilateral and defence relations between Singapore and Bahrain.
Dr Maliki also expressed Singapore's appreciation for Bahrain's support for the Singapore Armed Force's (SAF) deployments in support of the multinational coalition to defeat ISIS.
He also thanked Bahrain for its support of the SAF's deployment to the Gulf of Aden and its support for Singapore's port calls.
Mindef said on the sidelines of the dialogue, Dr Maliki also met Egypt's Assistant Minister of Defence Mohammed Salaheldine Hassan Ali, Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary of Defence Thomas Silberhorn and Kuwait's President of the National Security Bureau Sheikh Thamer Ali Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah.
Singapore has been an active participant of the Manama Dialogue since its inception in 2004.
The 15th Manama Dialogue was attended by more than 25 countries, including Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
