Australian FM in Malaysia for talks

Australian FM in Malaysia for talks

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister
Gareth Evans arrived here yesterday from Brunei for a four-day
visit for talks that officials said would focus on regional
security as well as bilateral issues.

Evans' visit is the first by a top Australian official
following a diplomatic row sparked by Australian Premier Paul
Keating calling his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad a
"recalcitrant" for skipping the U.S.-hosted Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in Seattle in November 1993.

Describing Malaysia as "an old friend" of Australia, Evans
said on his arrival here that the visit would strengthen
bilateral ties.

"Our relationship is very smooth, very relaxed and comfortable
at the moment and no bumps and no grouses," he said, after being
received at the airport by Malaysia's Foreign Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi.

Bilateral ties were smoothed out after a meeting between
Keating and Mahathir at the second APEC meeting in Indonesia last
November.