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Joint Statement by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence of The Republic Of Singapore and Shri Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence of The Republic Of India
20 November 2019
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The 4th Defence Ministers' Dialogue (DMD) between India and Singapore was successfully concluded today. The DMD commenced after both countries signed the revised Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) in 2015 to further strengthen the long-standing bilateral defence relationship. Since then, the relationship has broadened and deepened to encompass military cooperation across all three Services of the Singapore Armed Forces and the Indian Armed Forces, defence technology cooperation, as well as cooperation through multilateral engagements.
In particular, both Ministers lauded the growth in cooperation in the maritime domain. The inaugural edition of the Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime Exercise (SITMEX) in the Andaman Sea was conducted in September 2019. This exercise underscores the shared responsibility of the countries to work together to keep sea lines of communications open, and strengthens interoperability between the three countries. The participating Navies have found value in the exercise and have agreed to conduct the exercise on a yearly basis.
Dr Ng expressed appreciation for India's continued support for the SAF's training in India. Of note, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Republic of Singapore Air Force-Indian Air Force Joint Military Training this year, the exercise was expanded to include an air-sea training component for the first time. The increasing degree of complexity of the bilateral exercises reflects the growing confidence and mutual respect for each other's professional capabilities.
Shri Rajnath Singh reaffirmed India's full support and active participation in the regional security architecture, namely the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus and its many initiatives. Dr Ng expressed support for India's upcoming co-chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and welcomed India's
deepening engagements with other ASEAN States, both in bilateral and multilateral formats. In this regard, both sides welcomed the conclusion of a Letter of Intent to reaffirm a mutual commitment to explore deepening HADR cooperation in areas such as information sharing and capacity building.
The Ministers commended the progress in defence technology collaboration. The Ministers witnessed the exchange of a Letter of Intent to register both sides' commitment to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the use of Chandipur Integrated Test Range by the Singapore defence establishment.
Shri Rajnath Singh also offered setting up of Joint Test Facilities under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme of India. Dr Ng agreed to explore opportunities for joint collaboration. The Ministers also agreed to explore cooperation in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Geo-Spatial Data Sharing and Cyber Security.
Both Ministers expressed satisfaction at the deepening defence ties between India and Singapore and reaffirmed their commitment to support further initiatives that would promote stability to the region. It was also agreed to hold the 5th DMD in India next year on mutually convenient dates.
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