Singapore – Conversation between Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Singaporean counterpart (by telephone, 8 March 2021)

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, spoke today by telephone with Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.

The minister paid tribute to Singapore’s commitment to responding to the Myanmar crisis and expressed the hope that Singapore, together with other ASEAN countries, will be able to secure from the Myanmar military an end to the violence against the demonstrators and a return to the democratic transition. He reiterated that the EU was working on sanctions targeted against those responsible for the coup and hoped that the EU and ASEAN would continue to work closely in order to resolve the crisis.

The minister reaffirmed France’s determination to work toward promoting security in the Indo-Pacific region and its willingness to join the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) of which Singapore is the depository. Lastly, the minister recalled the agreement-in-principle made with his Singaporean counterpart in September on the creation of a “green corridor” aimed at facilitating the movement of business leaders between the two countries. He underscored the importance of finalizing this agreement as swiftly as possible in order to ensure its implementation as soon as conditions allow.