The Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement (AMDA) was set up on 19 September 1957 to provide a security umbrella for the newly independent Malaya. AMDA was a bilateral defence agreement between the United Kingdom and the Federation of Malaya, which also committed Australia and New Zealand to assist Britain in the defence of Malaysia. This agreement was used to justify Australian and New Zealand involvement in the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation.[1] The agreement was formally signed by the British and Malayan Governments on 12 October 1957.[2]
When Malaysia was created in 1963, AMDA was renamed the Anglo-Malaysian Defence Agreement and continued to provide some measure of security to the new federation. AMDA was later replaced with the FPDA.[3]
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ "White Paper on Malayan Defence", Statements published overseas, 19 September 1957, External Affairs Review (New Zealand), Vol VII, No. 9 (September 1957), 12-13.
- ^ "Chronology of International Events", External Affairs Review, Vol VII, No. 10 (October 1957), 42.
- ^ Rolls, Mark G. (2005). "Chapter 7: Growing Apart: New Zealand and Malaysia". In Smith, Anthony L. (ed.). Southeast Asia and New Zealand: A History of Regional and Bilateral Relations. Victoria University Press. pp. 215–223. ISBN 0-86473-519-7.