New Delhi: In a major defence initiative, India on Friday inked a pact with Singapore that ties their navies into a ‘Coordination, Logistics and Services Support’ for naval ships, submarines and naval aircraft.
The reference to logistics and services support for naval platforms including submarines, underlines the extent of strategic cooperation between India and tiny Singapore.
The agreement boosts Indian naval access to the south-east Asian region where China has been economically and militarily assertive. The pact on defence was inked after talks between PM Narendra Modi and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The defence pact with Singapore follows India and Indonesia setting up a task force to develop Sabang, a strategically-located Indonesian island near the Malacca Straits to which New Delhi has access.
