The Defence Minister of India ,Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh paid a 2-day (November 19-20, 2019) official bilateral visit to Singapore to attend 4th edition of annual India-Singapore Defence Ministers’ Dialogue 2019.
This is Rajnath’s 1st visit to Singapore in his capacity as Defence Minister in line with the Modi government’s Act East policy to boost cooperation with Singapore across various sectors.
Rajnath Singh attends 4th Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue 2019
Rajnath Singh held talks with his Singaporean counterpart Dr NG Eng Hen,Defence Minister of Singapore & both the leaders co-chaired the 4th Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue 2019 in Singapore.
i.India will provide full support to ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) and its many initiatives. Singapore will support India for its upcoming co-chairmanship of the ADMM Plus Experts’ Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)
India, Singapore agree to hold trilateral maritime exercise SITMEX annually
i.Both sides of India & Singapore reaffirmed their commitment to support further initiatives that would promote stability to the region. They also agreed to conduct the trilateral maritime exercise involving Singapore, India and Thailand annually from 2020.
In September 2019, The 1st Singapore-India-Thailand maritime exercise (SITMEX) was held in the Andaman Sea as part of the security and safety of Indo-Pacific sea lines. It was organized between Indian Navy, Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
About SITMEX:
It is a trilateral maritime exercise between India- Singapore-Thailand (SITMEX) conducted to promote cooperation between the three navies & the spirit of cooperation for stronger maritime security. It will increase mutual trust and understanding between the three navies and will help in better understanding each other’s maritime operations.
India & Singapore exchanged LoI on use of integrated test range (ITR) at chandipur, Odisha
India and Singapore signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) that will open the way for Singapore to launch missiles like the Spider Air Defense System at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.
This is probably the 1st time India will open the Chandipur Integrated Test Range for any other country.
ITR:It is a modern testing and evaluation (T&E) center of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation). It has been established to provide a safe and reliable test facility for the purpose of assessing the performance of rockets, missiles and airborne weapon systems.
India & Singapore agree to strengthen defence cooperation
Mr. Singh held talks with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and they agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation & increase engagement of the Armed Forces of both the countries in conducting joint exercises.
Rajnath Singh visits Kranji War Memorial in Singapore
Defence minister Rajnath visited Singapore’s Kranji War Memorial and paid tributes to the martyrs of World War-II.
About Singapore:
Capital –Singapore
Currency– Singapore dollar
President -Halimah Yacob
Prime Minister -Lee Hsien Loong
