AMPANG: Malaysia is seeking continued defence assistance from Japan to strengthen its maritime security capabilities amid growing geopolitical tensions and overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
He said Malaysia needed to strengthen its ability to safeguard its maritime territory, including the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, where overlapping claims involving China, Vietnam and the Philippines posed ongoing challenges.
“As a maritime nation, we must not only protect our land but also our entire maritime domain. We need all the capabilities necessary to safeguard our waters,” he said at a press conference after the PVATM 100th National Annual General Assembly here today.
Mohamed Khaled said Malaysia’s preparedness depended not only on military assets and personnel but also on trusted international partners willing to help build the country’s defence capabilities.
He said this was why Malaysia remained active in defence diplomacy and participated in bilateral and multilateral military exercises with other countries.
“Before competing in a football match, you train. The military must also train before going to war,” he said, adding that such exercises were conducted throughout the year, both locally and overseas.
On Malaysia’s defence cooperation with Japan, Mohamed Khaled said the two countries had longstanding bilateral relations, with defence cooperation gaining momentum in recent years following changes in Japan’s defence policy.
He said components of Japan’s counter-drone system, supplied under its Official Security Assistance (OSA) programme, would be deployed at several sites, including Sepanggar and Labuan, to bolster Malaysia’s defences against drone threats.
Mohamed Khaled said Japan’s revised defence policy in 2022 recognised that it could not defend itself alone and needed friendly countries to help strengthen its own and regional defence capabilities.
He said Malaysia was among the first recipient countries under Japan’s OSA programme, which supports partner countries in building their defence capabilities.
During his recent visit to Japan, Malaysia made two key requests: that the OSA programme continue and that future assistance focus on areas of strategic importance to the country.
“We hope the OSA programme will continue and not be discontinued, as it is helping us develop our capabilities,” he said.
Malaysia is set to receive a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) worth RM40 million from Japan under its 2026 OSA programme, following an agreement signed by Mohamed Khaled and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi during the Malaysian minister’s recent working visit to Japan.
Mohamed Khaled said Malaysia’s priority was to strengthen its maritime security capabilities, adding that future assistance should focus on helping the country better safeguard its maritime domain.
He said stronger Malaysian defence capabilities would also enable the country to contribute more effectively to regional security.