FPDA urged to maintain role

FPDA urged to maintain role

SINGAPORE (DPA): Members of the Five Power Defense Arrangement (FPDA) were urged yesterday by Singapore's military chief to maintain the organization's relevance as a deterrent force in Southeast Asia into the 21st century.

Singapore's chief of defense forces, Lt. Gen. Baey Soo Khiang, speaking at the end of the 14-day FPDA maneuvers codenamed "Starfish", said it was only with "progress militarily that the FPDA can keep pace and retain its strength for regional security and stability".

Hundreds of troops as well as warplanes, navy ships and submarines from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore took part in Starfish war games in the South China Sea.

The FPDA, formed in the 1970s to defend Singapore and Malaysia ahead of the withdrawal of British forces from the area, holds regular military and naval exercises in Southeast Asia.