The Straits Times
Meeting was to discuss cross-border travel, but both nations have seen spike in cases
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with Malaysia s Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at the Istana yesterday. Datuk Seri Hishammuddin also called on Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean during his two-day visit to Singapore. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION
https://str.sg/JtUv
They can read the article in full after signing up for a free account.
Share link:
Or share via:
Sign up or log in to read this article in full
Sign up
All done! This article is now fully available for you
Travel on compassionate grounds between Singapore and Malaysia will be allowed from May 17, amid Covid-19 restrictions that ban the bulk of cross-border movement, the two countries announced yesterday.
But given the escalating Covid-19 situation in both countries, other arrangements like an air travel bubble and short-term visits for business, as well as a planned in-person meeting in Singapore between top leaders, will be put on hold.
The details of the special travel arrangements on compassionate grounds will be released later, but these will include steps like testing visitors for the coronavirus as well as the need for quarantine, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday.
Malaysia s Foreign Minister Hishammuddin visits Singapore, post-pandemic cooperation to be discussed straitstimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from straitstimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ASEAN leaders meet Myanmar coup leader amid killings
Poll
Yes
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Southeast Asian leaders met Myanmar’s top general and coup leader in an emergency summit in Indonesia Saturday, and are expected to press calls for an end to violence by security forces that has left hundreds of protesters dead as well as the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees.
There is little hope for an immediate breakthrough in the two-hour gathering in Jakarta between Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and the six heads of state and three foreign ministers representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But his decision to face them offers a rare chance for the 10-nation bloc to directly deal with the general who ousted one of its leaders in a Feb. 1 coup.
JAKARTA: Southeast Asian leaders will try to persuade Myanmar’s junta to end violence and let in aid at a summit on Saturday, diplomats said, in the first concerted international effort to ease the crisis in the country.
Leaders will meet behind closed doors at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the hope of encouraging candid discussions, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s junta chief who ousted the civilian government on Feb. 1, is likely to attend, officials and diplomats in the host nation have said.
The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the coup, with almost daily protests and a crackdown by the junta in which hundreds of people have been killed.