The US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Tom Kelly is in Malaysia for consultations on a wide range of political-military issues, including peacekeeping, security cooperation and defence trade.

A statement issued by the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur said during the December 10-14 trip, Kelly will meet with senior policymakers and defence officials to discuss regional defence and security cooperation issues.

On December 13, the diplomat is scheduled to attend a ceremony at the Malaysian Peacekeeping Centre, where advanced specialised training for military and civilian personnel from across Southeast Asia to serve in international peacekeeping missions is provided.

The statement described Malaysia as “a strong US partner” on efforts to meet the growing global demand for peacekeeping personnel for UN and regional organisations’ peace operations through efforts such as the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).

It said Malaysia was the first of the 66 GPOI partner nations to reach this unique milestone.

GPOI is a US Department of State’s security cooperation programme which has helped train and equip more than 225,000 peacekeeping personnel worldwide.-VNA