New Zealand to send reconnaissance aircraft to Malaysia as part of five-nation defence pact

New Zealand promised to send his new reconnaissance planes to Malaysia for joint exercises, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday, as the two countries announced plans to expand defence ties under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA).

The leaders of both countries also called for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Gaza. Their call comes as hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu end the attack on Gaza and negotiate the release of more than 100 Israelis still held hostage by Hamas.

During his first official visit to Malaysia since taking office in November, Luxon said New Zealand would expand defence cooperation with “one of our oldest friends in Asia”, starting with the deployment of the P8 Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance aircraft as part of the FPDA.

He did not say when or how many aircraft would be deployed.

“We agreed on new cooperation to enhance efforts in the areas of transnational crime, counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism,” he said at a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart. Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur.