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Malaysia, US hold political-military consultation

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.
The US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-MilitaryAffairs, Tom Kelly is in Malaysia for consultations on a wide range ofpolitical-military issues, including peacekeeping, security cooperationand defence trade.

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

On December 13, the diplomatis scheduled to attend a ceremony at the Malaysian Peacekeeping Centre,where advanced specialised training for military and civilian personnelfrom across Southeast Asia to serve in international peacekeepingmissions is provided.

The statement described Malaysia as “astrong US partner” on efforts to meet the growing global demand forpeacekeeping personnel for UN and regional organisations’ peaceoperations through efforts such as the Global Peace OperationsInitiative (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 programmewhich has helped train and equip more than 225,000 peacekeepingpersonnel worldwide.-VNA
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