Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen attended the 20th Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, where he spoke at the second plenary session on “Political and Military Responses to Conflict”, earlier today.

In his speech, Dr Ng reflected on the key conflicts and developments over the past two decades across Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific which have contributed to an increasingly volatile global security environment. He said “Covid, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wars in Gaza and Lebanon, increasing rivalry between the US and China are all high impact events that continue to shake our world. As a result, the risks for instability for all countries have risen.”

In this context, Dr Ng emphasised that “de-escalation and pre-emption are vital first steps” to “alter the dangerous trajectory our World is taking”. He said, “For Asia and the Indo-Pacific, we must do all we can to prevent a physical conflict there. If conflict happens there, to add a third theatre, then all bets on peace and progress for this generation are off.” On recent developments in the Middle East, Dr Ng said that “The recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah gives us some hope. The two-state solution which Singapore supports is a goal that we must work towards, as the only viable path that leads to lasting peace. But for now, we should work towards a ceasefire too in Gaza so that the humanitarian tragedies can be alleviated.”

While in Bahrain, Dr Ng called on Bahrain’s Prime Minister and Deputy Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and met with Bahrain's National Security Advisor and Commander of the Royal Guard, His Highness Lieutenant-General Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Both sides reaffirmed the warm bilateral and defence relations between Singapore and Bahrain.