KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu yesterday held a bilateral meeting with United States Defence Secretary James Mattis at the Pentagon, Washington DC to discuss peace issues.
The Defence Ministry (Mindef) in a statement here said among others the discussion touched on tensions in the South China Sea whereby Malaysia maintained its stand of neutrality.
“The meeting which lasted almost an hour also discussed tackling the Islamic State threat and checking terrorism ideologies,” the statement said.
According to the statement, Malaysia also raised the issue of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya so that the superpower would intervene without delay because it was no longer a domestic issue in Myanmar but a universal humanitarian one.
It said that Malaysia was of the view that if the Rohingya issue was not tackled quickly there would be a repeat of what happened in Palestine where its people were killed and lands occupied and it was feared that this would only act in Islamic State’s favour.
Also present at the meeting were Malaysian Armed Forces chief Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin and senior Mindef officials.
The meeting is part of the itinerary of Mohamad’s working visit to the United States which began on Sunday and concludes this Saturday.
He is also scheduled to attend the High-Level Meeting on Action For Peacekeeping in New York and will accompany Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to the 73rd session of the United Nations General assembly (UNGA), which is taking from Monday until Saturday.
The minister’s working visit to Washington DC is a follow up to his meeting with Matis in Singapore in June. — Bernama
