India and Singapore ink new military training pact

NEW DELHI: India and Singapore on Monday night inked a fresh agreement to extend the use of training and exercise facilities in India by the Singapore Army for a further period of five years from August this year.

The pact was signed by Indian defence secretary Radha Krishna Mathur and Singapore permanent secretary of defence Chiang Chie Foo in the presence of the defence ministers of the two countries, A K Antony and Dr Ng Eng Hen, said officials.

Bilateral agreements for utilization of facilities in India by the Singapore Air Force and Army were first signed in October 2007 and August 2008 respectively. The agreement for training and exercises of Singapore Air Force in India was extended up to October 2017 during the visit of Singapore's permanent secretary of defence to India in July last year. Singapore, a city state which has space constraints to train its armed forces, is the only country to which India has offered such facilities.

Antony, who is now on a three-nation visit, arrived in Singapore on Monday evening. "The two sides held wide ranging talks on defence cooperation. They also exchanged views on global and regional security issues including Asia-Pacific Security," said the official. Antony is now headed to Australia in what will be his first visit to that country.