The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited Singapore to attend the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue.
Parrikar met the Minister for Defence of Singapore Dr. Ng Eng Hen to co-chair the inaugural Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue (DMD).
During the dialogue, both Ministers welcomed the growth in the defence relationship since the signing of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) in 2003 and the revised DCA in 2015.
Defence cooperation had been identified as a key sector under the India-Singapore Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership signed during the visit of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to Singapore in November 2015.
Both Ministers also commended the progress made in bilateral cooperation in defence R&D and technology. Under the India-Singapore Defence Technology Steering Committee, which was set up in October 2006, both sides have undertaken several joint research projects in a wide spectrum of mutually-beneficial areas, and are deepening cooperation in unmanned systems and soldier performance.
Singapore and India also convened the first meeting of their Defence Industry Working Group in May 2016. Both sides agreed to set up industry level working mechanisms to foster cooperation in aerospace, electronics and other areas of mutual interest.
Both Ministers also emphasised the importance of international cooperation in tackling transnational security threats.
The two sides agreed on the need to evolve protocols and norms of behaviour in the air and maritime domains aimed at building confidence, defusing tensions and reducing the risks of miscalculations.
Dr Ng also thanked Mr Parrikar for India’s support for the Information Fusion Centre and the Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre.
