WASHINGTON, Aug 4 — Wrapping up a landmark visit to the United States to mark the Golden Jubilee of bilateral diplomatic relations, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has expressed hope that the next generation of Singaporean leaders would sustain excellent ties with America.

"I think there are many good things going, and we have to take it step by step, but at the same time be able to sustain it into the next generation of leaders, which is one the reasons why, on this trip, I’ve brought along some young members of parliament and young ministers,” Lee told the Singapore media on Wednesday morning (US local time) at the end of his official visit to Washington, during which he was accorded a state dinner at the White House.

He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, Members of Parliament Christopher de Souza and Rahayu Mahzam, and Nominated Member of Parliament Chia Yong Yong during the visit.

When asked how he rated the success of his US trip, the Prime Minister said he considered it a plus for Singapore and a recognition of the good state of bilateral relations.

He added: "It’s a celebration of 50 years of partnership with the US, and an indication that we would like this partnership to continue for many more years to come, in a region which has changed, which has a different strategic outlook, and yet with a US still continuing to be able to make a contribution, and still in fact playing an indispensable role.

"The next phase, we are widening and deepening our cooperation, we have seeded new areas on this trip, talked about cybersecurity, talked about smart cities cooperation, talked about having scholarships for student exchanges so as to enhance the people-to-people ties.”

More broadly, the success of US-Singapore relations depends on "shared values, shared interests, (and) shared perspectives on the world”, noted Lee.

Both countries have outward-looking perspectives, want a stable Asia and are willing to engage partners to do that, he added.

PM Lee arrived in the US on Sunday when he met Singaporeans at a national day reception. This was followed by meetings the next day with US government and leaders.

He and his wife, Ho Ching, were officially welcomed by US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in a stately ceremony at the White House on Tuesday morning.

In his welcome remarks, Obama described Singapore as a "rock solid” partner of the US and an "anchor” for the American presence in the Asia Pacific.

This was followed by a meeting between the leaders at the Oval Office and the release of an ambitious joint statement to map out future bilateral cooperation in a wide spectrum of areas across defence, cybersecurity, innovation, trade and people to people exchanges.

It was also announced that Singapore will send a medical team to Iraq as part of its contribution towards global efforts to defeat the Islamic State (IS).

Commenting on the deployment, Lee said it would be a fallacy for Singapore to think that by lying low, it would not be a target of the militants. Singapore has to participate in the international anti-IS coalition according to its own abilities, he added.

"We are a target of IS anyway,” he noted.

"We know that we are being targeted even now by extremist groups because they see us as, well if they see Indonesia and Malaysia as legitimate targets, all the more Singapore is a rational, open, cosmopolitan country, and not what they think countries should be, and therefore should be attacked.”

The Republic had sent detachments to the Middle East for some time for counter terror operations, including air-to-air refuelling tankers and imagery interpretation teams.

"We’ve discussed it with the Americans, they thought it would be useful (for us to deploy a medical team), and we think we can do something,” he said.

"So we will send a team, we will go and recce, understand the circumstances, understand how best we can work, and whom we are working with, and then we will see how we will do it. But we will do it.” — TODAY