Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong vowed to strengthen the country's ties with Malaysia. Prime Minister Lee noted the two country's "special bond" during his conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on the latter's visit.
Lee said that the countries have "special Bond" and they were each other's second-biggest trading partners. According to him, the two countries will always have a good place for each other in their hearts. He also said that because of their proximity and interdependence, they will always have an interest in each other's development and success. He added that he is looking forward to working with his Malaysian counterpart.
During the meeting of the two leaders, they discussed deep into the two countries past giving emphasis of the strong ties between them. According to PM Lee, the two-day visit of Dr. Mahathir is his first as Malaysia's seventh prime minister. The Malaysian Prime Minister, however, is very familiar with Singapore.
According to PM Lee, Dr. Mahathir made several visits to Singapore in the past. He, also, has collaborated with the Republic's projects that have lasting benefits for the two nations like the Linggiu Dam in Johor and the Second Link in Tuas.
Mahathir is Malaysia's leader for 22 years before he stepped down in 2003. During his administration, the two countries are not on good terms. During his regime, Singapore's leader is PM Lee's father, Lee Kuan Yew. He is Singapore's first prime minister.
Mahathir defeated his rival former Prime Minister Najib Razak in an election in May. Mahathir collaborated with his former political rivals, putting aside their disputes, in forming a four-party coalition that gave him his victory. According to reports, he plans to lead for two years and he will hand it over the country's leadership to his former critic, Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir said that Singapore and Malaysia are mutually dependent. According to him, Singapore has no hinterland but it must regard Malaysia as its hinterland. He added that on the other hand, Malaysia had to depend on Singapore for its exports and imports for a very long time.
The two leaders failed to address issues in some projects since Mahathir won the leadership. According to reports, he terminated the construction plan of a high-speed rail that will connect Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and he is negotiating to raise the price of water sold to Singapore which is under a decade-old water treaty.
