TOKYO: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan clarified that the security assistance grant aid from Japan to Malaysia is unrelated to security threats in the South China Sea.
He said this following a report by Reuters saying that Japan and Malaysia signed a security assistance deal at the Asean-Japan Summit to "seek to counter an increasingly assertive China".
This, according to the report includes a grant of 400 million yen (USD2.8 million) to boost Malaysia's maritime security.
Speaking at a high tea event organised by the Malaysian government for Malaysians here, Mohamad said that what some portals (and agencies) have reported regarding the deal are untrue.
"The South China Sea threats are not at all why we asked and received security assistance from Japan. Some portals have reported that we asked for assistance to neutralise certain threats in the region. That is just not true," he said.
He added that Malaysia and Japan's bilateral ties are good.
"Japan have chosen to help us with the security assistance grant aid because we have good ties with them. They're for standard surveillance and monitoring our seas. We're not preparing for war.
"We are just patrolling our seas and we asked for Japan to help and they did."
"I asked for drones, they gave us drones."
Mohamad also added that drones in particular are better in terms of covering more area for surveillance than the conventional patrol vessels.
The three-day Asean-Japan Summit concludes today, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expected to address the same high tea event before a press conference scheduled for the Malaysian press later on.