Malaysia, Australia Move Towards Strategic Defence Collaboration - Khaled

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Australia have agreed to elevate their existing defence ties from cooperation to closer, more practical and strategic collaboration, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.

He said the agreement was reached at the sixth Malaysia-Australia High-Level Committee (HLC) Meeting, which he co-chaired with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in Geelong, Australia today.

Mohamed Khaled said the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) would serve as a key mechanism to ensure that every agreed initiative had clear direction and follow-up action.

“This includes initiatives in technology as well as defence capability development for both countries.

“This is the direction of Malaysia-Australia defence relations, moving from cooperation to collaboration and subsequently building stronger togetherness in facing future security challenges,” he said in a post on his official Facebook page.

Earlier, Mohamed Khaled and Marles held a bilateral meeting before co-chairing the HLC meeting.

The sixth HLC meeting marked the culmination of Mohamed Khaled's three-day working visit to Australia to assess progress in defence cooperation and chart the future direction of bilateral defence relations.

The meeting followed the fifth HLC session held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 21, 2025, with this year's meeting also focusing on exploring new opportunities for defence cooperation between Malaysia and Australia.

-- BERNAMA