Article Posted on : - Nov 22, 2012

NEW DELHI (PTI): India and Singapore on Wednesday agreed to enhance further their military ties and to hold regular Defence Minister-level meetings to discuss bilateral security issues.

The decision in this regard was taken at the meeting between Defence Minister A K Antony and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen here.

"It was decided that there should be regular meetings at the level of both Defence Ministers to facilitate exchanges of views on important issues and common security concerns," the Defence Ministry said in a release.

Both the countries expressed satisfaction over the wide- ranging, comprehensive defence exchanges between them.

They also agreed to continue interactions between the defence establishments through regular joint military training and exercises.

They also discussed the global and regional security scenario.

On the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the two sides "acknowledged the role of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus framework in promoting dialogue and consensus in the region.

"Antony reiterated India's commitment to remain constructively engaged in activities under the ADMM Plus framework," it said.

The two Ministers noted the commonalities in their security concerns and acknowledged that there was scope for both countries to continue to work together for regional peace and stability, the release said.

Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma was also present at the meeting along with several other senior Ministry and military officials.