Singapore and India had renewed their bilateral  air force agreement, which will allow the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Indian Air Force to continue its joint military operations at the Kalaikuda Air Force station in India for another 5 years. The Indian Ministry of Defence announced on January 19.

The Bilateral Agreement is to Conduct the Joint Military Training operations and Exercises in India between the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Indian Air Force (IAF) was concluded in 2007 and it was last renewed in 2012.

Under the agreement, the Republic of Singapore Air Force will have regular opportunities to train with the Indian Air Force advanced Su-30 fighter aircraft.

The renewed bilateral agreement was signed by Singapore’s Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Yeng Kit and India’s Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, and witnessed by Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and India’s High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf at MINDEF.

Secretary Kumar was in Singapore from 18th January to 19th January to co-chair the 11th Singapore-India Defence Policy Dialogue with Secretary Chan.

During the dialogue, which is a common forum for both countries to discuss areas of defence cooperation and strategic developments on mutual interest, both the countries underscored the "strong and growing ties" between the Singapore Armed Forces and the Indian Armed Forces, MINDEF said.

"Mr Kumar and Mr Chan also committed to strengthening bilateral defence interactions and welcomed deeper defence cooperation for mutual benefit," it added.

The Indian defence secretary also called on Dr Ng, with both parties reaffirming the strong bilateral defence relations between both the countries and discussing geopolitical and security developments in the region, the ministry said.

AMandeep