India and Singapore will review the entire gamut of their bilateral defence ties here on Tuesday during the sixth India-Singapore Defence Ministers' Dialogue. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Ng Eng Hen will co-chair the dialogue.
The meeting aims to carry forward defence cooperation between the two countries. Both sides will also exchange views on regional and global issues of shared interest, defence ministry said here on Monday.
India and Singapore share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The bilateral defence relations form a significant pillar to this collaboration. The engagements have diversified to include wide-ranging contacts between the Services, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes, cooperation in UN Peacekeeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.
Singapore is a key pillar of India's Act East Policy, and an important partner of the Indo-Pacific vision. Defence and security partnership between the two countries is an important factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Singaporean Defence Minister will be on a visit to India from October 21-23. The fifth edition of the Defence Ministers' Dialogue took place in January 2021 through virtual teleconference.
Meanwhile, Indian Air Force(IAF)and Republic of Singapore Air Force(RSAF) on Monday commenced the 12th edition of the Joint Military Training (JMT) exercise at Air Force Station Kalaikunda, West Bengal, IAF said here.
The bilateral phase of the exercise will be conducted from November 13 to 21 and is expected to generate intense collaboration between the two forces, as they engage in advanced air combat simulations, joint mission planning and debriefing sessions. The bilateral phase aims to enhance interoperability, sharpen combat readiness and promote the exchange of knowledge between the two Air Forces.
The RSAF is participating with its largest contingent till date, comprising of aircrew and support personnel from F-16, F-15 squadrons alongwith G-550 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and C-130 aircraft. The IAF will be participating with Rafale, Mirage 2000 ITI, Su-30 MKI, Tejas, MiG-29 and Jaguar aircraft.
Since its inception, JMT has been conducted under the ambit of a bilateral agreement signed between the two nations. JMT exercise comes right after RSAF's participation in one of the largest multinational aerial exercises, Ex-Tarang Shakti hosted by the IAF, which is reflective of a growing professional association between the two Air Forces.
In addition to air operations, the personnel of the two air forces will exchange best practices, as they interact during a multitude of sports and cultural activities over the next seven weeks.
JMT-2024 highlights the strong bilateral defence relationship built over years of collaboration and joint exercises, as well as the mutual respect between India and Singapore.
