SINGAPORE, May 3: Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Wednesday called on the Defence Minister of Singapore Dr Ng Eng Hen, and reaffirmed the strong and long-standing bilateral defence ties between the two nations.
They also discussed the regional security developments and the importance of leveraging multilateral platforms for confidence building, Singapore’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
Hari, who is visiting Singapore from May 1 to 4, met the Singapore defence minister Dr Ng on the sidelines of the 13th International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEX) Asia and discussed bilateral ties, the statement said.
On May 1, he received a brief on Singapore’s history and visited the Kranji War Memorial, followed by an inspection of the Guard of Honour at the Ministry of Defence, before calling on the Chief of Defence Force Rear-Admiral (RADM) Aaron Beng and Chief of Navy RADM Sean Waton on May 2.
On Tuesday, Kumar also attended the inaugural ceremony of the first ASEAN-India maritime exercise at a key naval base in Singapore.
The exercise, being co-hosted by the navies of India and Singapore, will witness the participation of ships and personnel from other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.
Two frontline warships of the Indian navy arrived in Singapore on Monday to participate in the maritime exercise.
During his visit to Singapore so far, Hari also visited the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) at RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base (CNB), where he was briefed on how the IFC contributes towards maritime security by cueing operational responses from regional navies through information sharing.
Kumar will also attend the 8th edition of the International Maritime Security Conference (IMSC) on 4 May 2023.
His visit underscores the strong and long-standing bilateral defence relations between Singapore and India.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Indian Navy interact regularly through bilateral exercises, professional exchanges, visits and cross-attendance of courses, said the defence ministry in its statement.
These mutually beneficial interactions have deepened the bilateral defence relationship, enhanced mutual understanding and strengthened the cooperation between the two navies, added the ministry. (PTI)
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