India, Singapore agree to boost defence ties

New Delhi India and Singapore on Tuesday agreed to further step up defence cooperation and enhance industry cooperation, including exploring collaboration in niche domains such as automation and artificial intelligence.

At the sixth India-Singapore Defence Ministerial Dialogue here, the defence ministers of the two countries also agreed to extend the bilateral agreement on Joint Military Training Army for the next five years, according to a statement.

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Singapore counterpart Ng Eng Hen co-chaired the event, the statement from the Defence Ministry said.

"Both ministers acknowledged the deep and long-standing bilateral defence relations based on shared outlook on regional peace, stability and security," it said.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of India marking a decade of its Act East policy, in which Singapore has played a key role in promoting economic cooperation and cultural ties and developing strategic connectivity with countries in the region.

Both ministers expressed satisfaction at the growing defence cooperation between the two countries.

There have been regular engagements between the armed forces of the two nations in recent years.

"Recognising that both nations are natural partners for commencing co-development and co-production of defence equipment, both sides agreed to enhance industry cooperation, including exploring collaboration in niche domains such as automation and artificial intelligence," the statement said.

The two ministers also decided to take forward the cooperation in emerging areas like cyber security, it added.