Dr Balakrishnan also congratulated Mr Blinken on his appointment as Secretary of State.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement: “They reaffirmed the excellent and longstanding relations between Singapore and the United States, and the strong and growing cooperation in defence and security, as well as in trade and investment.
“They also agreed to collaborate closely on the global response to Covid-19 and climate change.”
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dr Balakrishnan said: “I’ve known Tony since his time as deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration, and am pleased for the opportunity to work with him again to further deepen the Singapore-US partnership.”
Governments around the world condemn Myanmar’s military coup Published on Share
The United States led governments around the world in calling for the restoration of Myanmar’s democracy on Monday after the military staged a coup, arresting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other politicians.
– United States –
The United States “will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed”, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
She added that the US opposed any attempt to alter the outcome of the November elections, which handed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) an overwhelming landslide, but sparked allegations of vote irregularities by the routed military-backed party.
3 February 2021
Author: Hunter Marston, ANU
In the early hours of Monday 1 February 2021, Myanmar security forces detained scores of civilian political leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint as well as prominent activists and journalists. The international community was swift to condemn the military’s seizure of power, despite the late hour in Washington and European Union capitals.
How events play out in coming days will determine whether Myanmar returns to its former pariah status under military rule, or if international partners can coax the military to come to a negotiated settlement.
Myanmar’s Lower house of parliament (Pyithu Hluttaw) was preparing to convene Monday, with the upper house (Amyotha Hluttaw) to follow on Tuesday. Despite promises that the military would ‘respect the constitution’ alleviating fears that it would dispute last November’s election results the armed forces rounded up civilian leaders and potent