Eye on China, India steps up defence ties with Singapore

NEW DELHI: India and Singapore Tuesday decided to step up their defence cooperation , including commencing co-development and co-production of military equipment , as well as extend their agreement on joint military training (Army) for the next five years.

The sixth defence ministerial dialogue, led by Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen here, also agreed to enhance defence-industry cooperation, including exploring collaboration in niche domains such as automation and artificial intelligence.

With an expansionist China flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific, India has been steadily upgrading defence ties with Asean countries through regular joint exercises, military exchanges, and training programmes.

"The two ministers also decided to take forward the cooperation in emerging areas like cyber security , while acknowledging the deep and long-standing bilateral defence relations based on a shared outlook on regional peace, stability, and security," an official said.