SINGAPORE: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, plays a crucial role in advancing ties and friendship between Malaysia and Singapore, said the republic's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
"Under Your Majesty's leadership and with your strong support, we can jointly raise Singapore-Malaysia relations to the next level of cooperation and friendship," Tharman said in his speech at the state banquet held at The Istana, here on Monday . "Let us build on these bonds as we look ahead to the 60th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations next year. As with all neighbours, we do have issues to work through, but we should not let them alter the vitality of our overall relationship," he said.