WASHINGTON - Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen will be in Washington DC from Tuesday (Nov 2) to Thursday.

He will speak at this year's Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday in Washington, and meet his counterpart, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Monday.

While in Washington, Dr Ng will also meet other current and former top US defence officials. They include the immediate past secretary of defence Mark Esper, and his predecessor James Mattis, who is now a senior counsellor at business advisory firm The Cohen Group.

Dr Ng will also meet former under secretary of defence for policy Michele Flournoy, who is chair of the Centre for a New American Security think-tank, as well as with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Mindef.

The Aspen Security Forum is an annual security and foreign policy conference now in its 11th year often attended by global leaders and top US defence officials.

Speakers at this year's conference include US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and other Congress members, policy experts and military leaders.

They will discuss a wide range of topics including cyber security, global vaccination, climate change, corruption, democracy, and how they relate to national security.