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Prabowo congratulates new Singapore PM Wong
The president-elect joined a chorus of congratulatory messages from countries across the globe for Wong, Singapore's first new prime minister in 20 years.
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Lawrence Wong, who was sworn in as Singapore’s prime minister on May 15, 2024, delivers a speech on April 10 at a reception to launch the Paris office of Singapore state investor Temasek. (AFP/Julien De Rosa)
P
resident-elect Prabowo Subianto was among several world leaders and top government officials to make a courtesy call on Thursday to congratulate newly inaugurated Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on his new role as the country’s first new premier in 20 years.
The day after he was sworn in on May 15, Wong posted to his Instagram account a photo of himself on the phone with world leaders, including Defense Minister Prabowo, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
"They called to congratulate me on my new role, and I thank them for their well wishes. I look forward to working with them to boost bilateral and regional cooperation," Wong wrote in the caption.
Following his inauguration on Wednesday, congratulations flowed in from governments around the world.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington looked forward to working with Wong "to further strengthen the US-Singapore strategic partnership".
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the relationship between the UK and Singapore "will continue to thrive in the years to come".
Beijing said it believed China-Singapore relations would continue to advance during Wong's term, "bringing more support to our people and making contributions to regional peace, stability and development".
Taiwan's foreign ministry described the ties between Taiwan and Singapore as close and friendly, and said it hoped "the two sides will continue to expand their cooperative relations".
Malaysia, which has had a turbulent relationship with the island nation in the past, also congratulated Wong, with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi saying, "We look forward to further deepening our partnership in areas of mutual interest, including economic development, education and trade."
