Singapore foreign minister to visit Brunei today, Malaysia, Indonesia next

Singapore foreign minister to visit Brunei today, Malaysia, Indonesia next
Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan gives a press conference after the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid on December 16, 2019. (Agence France Presse/OSCAR DEL POZO )
Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan gives a press conference after the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid on December 16, 2019. (Agence France Presse/OSCAR DEL POZO )
Published 23 March 2021
The Jakarta Post/ANN

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will visit Brunei Darussalam on Monday, after which he will go to Malaysia and Indonesia, the foreign affairs ministry said. 

The minister's visit reaffirmed the close and longstanding special relationship between Singapore and Brunei, the ministry said in a statement. 

The statement did not specify any other reason for the visits, but last week Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo called for an end to bloodshed in military-ruled Myanmar and for Southeast Asian leaders to hold a high-level meeting to try to find a way out of the country's escalating crisis. 

Brunei is currently chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Straits Times reported that Balakrishnan will have an audience with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and will also meet and be hosted to a meal by Brunei's Second Foreign Minister Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof.