Shanmugam in meetings with various US leaders and officials

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam was up on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on Thursday for meetings with various Congressional leaders, including Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Bob Menendez and Ranking Member Bob Corker.

Mr Shanmugam also met with Ranking Member for the House Foreign Affairs Committee Representative Eliot Engel, and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Representative Steve Chabot, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Shanmugam also had the opportunity to catch up with former Utah Governor and former US Ambassador to Singapore and China Jon Huntsman.

Mr Shanmugam also met with senior Administration Officials in charge of Asian affairs from the National Security Council, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security.

In all these meetings, a broad range of issues were discussed, including US domestic politics, key developments in South-east and North-east Asia, the importance of the US' multi-faceted engagement of Asia-Pacific including through initiatives like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the US-Singapore Third Country Training Programme, as well as the strength of the US-Singapore bilateral relations.

Before departing back to Singapore on Saturday, Mr Shanmugam will meet with other strategic thinkers including former US National Security Advisors Sandy Berger and Stephen Hadley.

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