More FPDA exercises to resume as Covid-19 situation improves: Military chiefs

SINGAPORE - More exercises and exchanges between nations of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are expected to resume after they were scaled down over the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was among the outcomes of an annual meeting between the military chiefs of the defence pact from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

The 21st FPDA Defence Chiefs' Conference, chaired by Singapore's Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong, was held at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay.

It was attended by Malaysia's Chief of Army, General Tan Sri Zamrose Mohd Zain; New Zealand's Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short; Australia's Vice-Chief of the Defence Force, Vice-Admiral David Johnston; and the UK's Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, General Gwyn Jenkins.

The conference is the defence pact's highest professional military forum and was held in person for the first time since the pandemic.

A joint statement from the conference, held from Oct 10 to 12, said the military chiefs acknowledged that the global health situation had abated since the last conference, which was hosted by Malaysia in 2021 in conjunction with the FPDA’s 50th anniversary.

This meant that FPDA nations could gradually resume exercises and activities, they added.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, LG Ong said FPDA exercises and operations will be updated to ensure their relevance to the security challenges of tomorrow.

"Going forward, even as we have conventional warfighting as a core of what we do in the FPDA, it's important to update these exercises on the non-conventional front. And we are doing that," he said.

The ongoing Exercise Suman Protector will include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief drills and the evacuation of non-combatants, he added. The opening ceremony for the FPDA exercise will be held at Changi Naval Base on Wednesday.

Asked how multilateral groupings such as the Aukus and the Quad will affect the FPDA, Australia's Vice-Admiral Johnston said the FPDA has contributed to an open, inclusive and resilient region in the last 51 years, and will continue to do so.

The Quad is a dialogue grouping consisting of the United States, Australia, India and Japan. The security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, or Aukus, was announced last year.

He added: "Other arrangements that our countries have are also complementary to that outcome. So they are reinforcing all around the shared objective of a prosperous, safe and secure region."