Singapore has submarine rescue agreements with many countries, namely Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, the United States, and Vietnam. Recently, the city-island-nation signed an agreement with India for its navies to extend rescue facilities to each other’s submarines.
At the fifth India-Singapore Defense Ministers’ Dialogue held via video conferencing, Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh witnessed the signing of the Implementing Agreement on Submarine Rescue Support and Cooperation between the two navies. The agreement will allow both navies to extend submarine rescue assistance and conduct bilateral familiarization visits to enhance submarine rescue operations proficiency. The newly-signed cooperation will also enable the Indian Navy to enhance submarine patrols in the South China Sea region.
In November last year, the navies of the two countries conducted the 27th edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) and participated in the second edition of the Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime Trilateral Exercise (SITMEX) together with Thailand’s Navy.
According to the Joint Statement following the Ministers’ Dialogue, defense and security engagements between India and Singapore have broadened significantly in scale and scope across all three Services of the Armed Forces and the areas of the defense technology industry. Both countries have also found common ground on multilateral fora and engagements.
Besides the submarine rescue agreement, India and Singapore have also agreed to step up military cooperation, including cyber defense and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations.
(Sources: The Times of India; SP’s Naval Forces)
