00:00There's been a lot of anxiety among Asian nations about U.S. commitment in the Indo-Pacific.
00:05Pete Hexeth was clear in terms of sending that message of commitment.
00:11Do you buy that?
00:13Are you assured by his assurances?
00:15At the moment, we feel assured.
00:18Surely we don't want any real conflict to happen for us to get that,
00:24for us to believe that there is such a commitment.
00:28But from his personal appearance, his visit, his engagement with all the individual countries in this region,
00:39I believe that there is a real commitment.
00:42But whether, if anything happens, the presence or the participation will be up to 100 percent, that is yet put
00:53this in.
00:54The Shangri-La Dialogue is being held against a backdrop of an Iran war that is headed towards the fourth
01:00month.
01:01We've seen the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and that's raising concerns about the Strait of Melaka.
01:06How are you assessing the risk of the Strait of Melaka?
01:09We cannot use the Strait of Hormuz for us to think that the same will happen to the Strait of
01:17Melaka.
01:20As one of the countries which is managing the Strait of Melaka,
01:27we can give our assurance that the Strait of Melaka will be a Strait that will allow free flow of
01:34navigation,
01:36countries that are managing the Strait,
01:38countries that will continuously and strongly support international law, the law of the sea,
01:48and therefore don't have any ideas that what is happening to the Strait of Hormuz will happen to the Strait
01:55of Melaka.
01:56The four countries that are taking responsibility in managing the Strait are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, as well as Thailand.
02:09We are not, any one of these countries are not like Iran, being sanctioned and all those things.
02:18And then for many years, and they are attacked, and therefore they have to retaliate
02:24and look into ways in which, in fighting this war, they can be very effective.
02:29What looks attractive in terms of Chinese weaponry? What might you consider?
02:34Maybe drone, unmanned vehicle, that kind of things.
02:41We understand that you are on a visit with the King to Russia.
02:45Any plans to procure Russian equipment?
02:49Like I said, by being neutral, we are able to have more areas for us to consider.
03:01The Sukhoi jets, for instance, might be?
03:03More sources for our jets, we did mention that we will start to evaluate buying the multi-role combat aircraft
03:15to replace our F-18 as well as our earlier support.
03:19And during, by that time, we will also take into consideration every aircraft that meets our requirement in 2030.
03:32Are you likely to purchase U.S. missiles?
03:36Is that the alternative for you?
03:38What are part of the options?
03:40What are the options?
03:41If the price is right and there is no issue in the integration between the missile and the combat management
03:47system,
03:48and if we can have some other assurance from the U.S. that they will provide us with other technologies,
03:57I see no reason why we shouldn't consider seriously on the U.S. offer.
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