Antony likely to visit Singapore in May

Antony likely to visit Singapore in May

Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony is likely to visit Singapore next month, the first time he will be travelling abroad after assuming office six months ago.During the visit, Antony is likely to hold discussions on concluding a memorandum of understanding - on ramping up military cooperation between the two countries.'The exact dates are yet to be finalised. An advance team is currently in Singapore for this purpose,' an official told IANS.'The visit is likely in the third week of May,' the official added.A Singapore defence officer also confirmed that Antony would be visiting the city-state.The biennial International Maritime Defence Exhibition - is to be held in Singapore May 15-19 but it was not immediately known whether Antony would attend.Two Indian Navy ships, the guided missile destroyer INS Mysore and the guided missile corvette INS Kultar will participate in IMDEX to showcase India's shipbuilding capabilities. The two ships are part of a five-vessel Indian Navy flotilla that conducted a joint drill with the Singapore Navy last month.Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and his counterparts from 22 nations will attend IMDEX-2007.India and Singapore have been conducting joint naval exercises for the past 12 years. In 2005, they held their first joint army and air force exercises with the Indian Army.The month-long drill conducted in India involved some 500 Singapore soldiers and half-a-dozen F-16 fighters of its air force.Singapore hopes this cooperation can be institutionalised through an MoU - and India has indicated its willingness for this.'New areas of defence cooperation, including joint training facilities are emerging and supplementing existing cooperation between India and Singapore in the naval, maritime and counter-terrorism spheres,' Pranab Mukherjee, the then Indian defence minister, had said while addressing the annual security conference of Singapore's International Institute for Strategic Studies - last year.