SINGAPORE — Malaysia has yet to propose a meeting date with Singapore to discuss the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), said Singapore's transport ministry on Wednesday night (Aug 1), a day after the deadline lapsed for Putrajaya to indicate its official position on the project.

Despite Malaysia agreeing to start discussions "soon", a spokesperson from Singapore's Ministry of Transport (MOT) noted that "as of 1 August 2018, Malaysia has not proposed a meeting date to Singapore".

The ministry was responding to queries from TODAY about comments made by Malaysian economic affairs minister Azmin Ali on Tuesday (July 31), where he dismissed the July 31 deadline set by Singapore as a "suggestion".

In Mr Azmin's words: "That is Singapore's suggestion. As I mentioned in my letter last week (to Singapore) we will firm up the date."

MOT confirmed that Singapore received a letter from Mr Azmin dated July 23, where he said that the Malaysian government was "studying the details of the HSR Project and will commence discussions with Singapore soon".

The spokesperson for MOT said: "(Singapore) has requested via diplomatic channels since June 1 that the Malaysian government provide a written response clarifying its position on the HSR project. (We) had also requested that if the Malaysian government wished to meet to discuss the HSR project, the discussions should take place by July 31, 2018."

No other details about the contents of the July 23 letter was provided, but MOT said that it "welcomes" Malaysia's suggestion to start discussions.

Mr Azmin alluded on Tuesday that the discussion could be held in "early August". He was quoted by Malaysian media as saying: "We are quite occupied for parliament, hopefully we will meet in early August."

On Monday, Malaysia's foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah told Malaysia's official news agency Bernama that "(the meeting) will take place very soon… we want to sit down and discuss".

Putrajaya has sent mixed signals on the HSR in recent months, with Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad and his Cabinet ministers vacillating between firm vows to cancel it and abrupt suggestions weeks later that hint at possible deferment of the project.

Despite the uncertainties surrounding the rail line, Singapore continues to incur cost on the HSR project, with expenditure expected to hit some S$300 million by year-end, Singapore's Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed in Parliament last month.

Mr Khaw earlier warned that a "significant" amount of the funds spent would be "completely wasted" if the project was called off.

Giving a detailed breakdown of the costs involved, Mr Khaw said that the Government had already spent more than S$250 million on the project as of May this year.

In June, Singapore spent more than S$6 million on the project and expects to incur a similar amount in July. Costs for the project are expected to "increase rapidly" with time, Mr Khaw added, estimating the expenditure for the August to end-December period at more than S$40 million.

MOT had reiterated in earlier statements that the HSR bilateral agreement is a "binding international treaty" and both Malaysia and Singapore remain obliged to fulfil the existing terms of the agreement, in the absence of mutually agreed amendments to the deal.