India, Singapore sign pact on submarine rescue support

India and Singapore on Wednesday signed an implementing agreement on submarine rescue support and cooperation between their navies during the 5th Defence Minister’s Dialogue held over video conference, a joint statement said.

The signing of an implementing agreement is very significant between two submarine operating navies, said maritime affairs expert Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande (retd).

“We have had a growing defence relationship with several ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members and naval cooperation between Singapore and India goes back to the early 1990s. Cooperation in submarine rescue enables sharing of resources and expertise and much faster response should an accident happen. It is cost-effective and, importantly, time-effective when time is the most critical factor,” Shrikhande said.

In another move to deepen military cooperation, defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen expressed their support to the early conclusion of agreements to facilitate live firing drills and to establish reciprocal arrangements for the cross-attendance of military courses.

“Defence and security engagements between India and Singapore have broadened significantly in scale and scope across all three services of the armed forces as well as in the areas of defence technology and industry,” the statement said. The talks covered initiatives to enhance bilateral defence cooperation including the implementing agreement on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) cooperation in August 2020 for the two militaries to have closer operational collaboration in response to disasters.

The cyber agencies of the two militaries have also deepened their engagements, officials said.

During the virtual interaction, Singh complimented Singapore for the effectiveness of its pandemic mitigation measures and the contribution of that country’s armed forces in restricting the spread of Covid-19. He also highlighted the role of the Indian military in combating the pandemic and missions undertaken to repatriate Indians stranded abroad.