Singapore, India extend pact on use of army training facilities in India

India and Singapore have signed a fresh agreement to extend the use of training and exercise facilities in India by the Singapore Army for a further period of five years from August this year.

India's defence secretary Radha Krishna Mathur and Singapore's permanent secretary of defence Chiang Chie Foo signed the agreement in Singapore on Monday in the presence of the defence ministers of the two countries - AK Antony and Ng Eng Hen.

The two countries had entered into a bilateral agreement for utilisation of facilities in India by the Singapore Air Force and Army in October 2007 and August 2008, respectively.

The agreement for training and exercises of Singapore Air Force in India was extended up to October 2017 during the visit of Singapore's permanent secretary of defence to India in July last year.

Singapore is the only country to which India is offering such facilities. The two sides held wide-ranging talks on defence cooperation. They also exchanged views on global and regional security issues, including Asia-Pacific security.

Defence minister A K Antony arrived in Singapore in the first leg of a three-nation visit evening. Antony is on an official visit to Singapore, Australia, and Thailand.

Antony will arrive in Australia today on a maiden visit aimed at strengthening India's defence ties with the countries in Asia Pacific region.

His visit comes days after Australian government released a defence white paper recently, which noted that, "India is emerging as an important strategic, diplomatic and economic actor, 'looking east,' and becoming more engaged in regional frameworks."