India and Singapore agree to deepen economic, defence ties
India and Singapore on Friday agreed to deepen their economic and defence ties as they signed eight agreements, including one on logistics cooperation between their navies after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.
The two leaders also exchanged views on the regional and global challenges and reiterated their principled position on maritime security and expressed commitment to 'Rules Based' Order. "India-Singapore relations fulfill the criterion of strategic partnership in the true sense. There is no uneasiness in our relationships, rather it has only warmth, harmony and faith," Modi said in a joint press statement after the meeting. The two countries signed implementation agreement between their navies concerning mutual coordination, logistics and services support for naval ships', submarines and naval aircraft (including ship borne aviation assets) visits.
"Both Prime Ministers welcomed the exchange of the Implementing Arrangement between the Navies of both countries Concerning Mutual Coordination, Logistics and Services Support, and called for the early renewal of the Army Bilateral Agreement," said a joint statement issued fter the meeting.
Appreciating India's leading role in the Indian Ocean region, both sides agreed to New Delhi's proposal for continuous and institutionalised naval engagements in their shared maritime space including establishing maritime exercises with like-minded regional / ASEAN partners, it added.
"We welcome the continuous increase in these relations. I congratulate the navies of India and Singapore on 25th anniversary of SIMBEX. Soon we will start the tripartite naval exercises Singapore: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, to former Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted that Modi handed over the award to Koh in the presence of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong here, reports IANS. "The award was announced in January 2018 on the occasion of silver jubilee of India-Asean partnership and our Republic Day," Kumar added.
too," Modi said. The two leaders reviewed progress in the bilateral relations and discussed the roadmap for the future. "We have been able to conclude successfully the second review of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) but we agreed this is not just our target and goal but this only means to an end," he said. | SATURDAY | JUNE 2, 2018