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Singapore to sign defence pact with India

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Oct. 12. Singapore will enter into a ``defence cooperation agreement'' with India.

This was officially announced here as the Singapore Defence Minister, Teo Chee Hean, left for New Delhi today.

During his four-day visit to India, the first by a Singapore Defence Minister, Mr. Teo will sign the accord with his Indian counterpart, George Fernandes.

The agreement, designed to broaden the expanding ties between the two countries, will cover a wide range of cooperative activities such as ``personnel exchanges, visits, courses and intelligence exchanges'', according to Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

Mr. Teo's visit is a sequel to the talks that Mr. Fernandes had held here in 2002 as also this year. India and Singapore have intensified their defence-related engagement in recent years.

The two Navies have held exercises, and the defence-related companies have participated in specific events in either country.

The prospective bilateral agreement will, in a sense, institutionalise the existing arrangements and enhance the level of cooperation, according to official sources. Singapore, which does not have a

strategic depth of the geographical kind, has cooperative relations with several key countries.

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