Singapore’s Permanent Secretary (Defence) Chan Heng Kee on Tuesday held discussions with India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, during which the leaders reaffirmed the robust and enduring bilateral defence relationship between the two nations, a defence official said. The high-level meeting also addressed issues of mutual strategic interests, further solidifying the defence cooperation between India and Singapore.
This pivotal engagement took place on the sidelines of the 15th India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue, hosted in New Delhi. During the dialogue, the focus was on reinforcing the Strategic Partnership between the two nations, with particular emphasis on enhancing defence cooperation, emerging technologies, and cyber security collaboration.
Additionally, Permanent Secretary Chan Heng Kee and India’s Secretary (East), Ambassador Saurabh Kumar, engaged in discussions that extended beyond the realm of bilateral cooperation. They explored their views on ASEAN and regional issues, reflecting the comprehensive nature of their strategic partnership.
“Secy (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar met Permanent Secretary Chan Heng Kee of @mindefsg on the sidelines of the 15th India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue in New Delhi today. Discussions focused on strengthening the – Strategic Partnership, including in domains of defence cooperation, emerging technologies and cyber security. They also exchanged views on ASEAN and regional issues,” posted MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on X.
In the area of defence, India and Singapore have a longstanding and comprehensive partnership, which includes, Annual Ministerial and Secretary level dialogues; Staff level talks between three wings of Armed forces; training of Singapore Army and Air force in India (10th edition in 2019) every year; annual exercises including India’s longest uninterrupted naval exercise with any other country (26th edition in 2019); ship visits from Navy and Coast Guard, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
India and Singapore share similar concerns about the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism and have found it mutually beneficial to evolve a broad framework of security cooperation. The areas of security cooperation also include cyber security, combating drug trafficking, bilateral MoUs for these were renewed in PM Modi’s May-June 2018 visit and operational exchanges are ongoing. Seven rounds of the India- Singapore Security Dialogue (ISSD) at Deputy NSA of India and Permanent Secretary, National Security & Intelligence Coordination have been held so far, according to MEA.
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