BILATERAL TALKS BETWEEN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA

Mr Shriniwas Rai asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will indicate the latest development on bilateral talks between Malaysia and Singapore.

Prof. S. Jayakumar: I refer the Member to my reply, at our last sitting, to the question from Mr Harun Ghani. I then informed this House that senior officials from Singapore and Malaysia have had three rounds of discussions this year on the package of bilateral issues. I had also informed the House that they would probably have a fourth round of talks later this month in Kuala Lumpur. This remains the situation. We are waiting for the Malaysians to revert with specific dates.

During the discussions to-date, both sides stated their positions on the various issues included in the package. More work needs to be done to bring our positions closer together. As I had informed at our last sitting, my Malaysian counterpart and I agreed during his visit to Singapore last month that our officials should try to narrow the gaps on the issues so as to arrive at a win-win package deal. This remains our expectation and our approach.