WASHINGTON - United States Defence Secretary James Mattis and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen have affirmed the strong cooperation between the two countries' militaries.

In a joint statement issued on Friday (April 7), Mr Mattis and Dr Ng said that over the years, "personnel exchanges and bilateral training have built mutual understanding and strong people-to-people ties" between the US Armed Forces and the Singapore Singapore Armed Forces.

Dr Ng was on a working visit to the US from Sunday to Wednesday (April 2 to 5) and met Mr Mattis at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

He also thanked Mr Mattis in the statement for the US' support for SAF's training in the US, and noted that good progress has been made in exploring further training opportunities in Guam.

On multinational operations led by the US, Mr Mattis was appreciative of Singapore's contributions, including in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group.

Dr Ng was also confident that Singapore's contribution of a medical task force to Iraq - which starts in May - would improve the medical capabilities of the multinational coalition against ISIS, and support the medical needs of coalition soldiers and civilians.