Modi meets Singapore PM, Prez; pacts inked on defence ties

India and Singapore today signed ten bilateral agreements including a joint declaration on 'strategic partnership' and pacts for enhanced cooperation in areas like defence, cyber security and civil aviation, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam.

On the second day of his two-day visit, Modi called on the Singapore President after a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him this morning. Later, he held official talks with his Singaporean counterpart.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup later tweeted that ten bilateral documents were signed across sectors, showing "a large bandwidth of cooperation".

These included joint declaration on strategic partnership to defence, cyber security, shipping, culture, and the agreements showcase strength of bilateral ties, Swarup tweeted.

The two Prime Ministers also released commemorative stamps on Rashtrapati Bhawan and Istana (the official residence and office of the President of Singapore).

The ten pacts signed by the two sides included a joint declaration by the two Prime Ministers on a strategic partnership.

"India and Singapore elevate their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership to deepen and broaden engagement in existing areas of cooperation and catalyse new ones ranging from political, defence and security cooperation to economic, cultural and people-to-people contact. The strategic partnership is also a framework to contribute to greater regional stability and growth," the joint declaration said.

The other pacts included an agreement between the two countries on enhanced defence cooperation, which provides for defence ministers' dialogue, joint exercises between armed forces, cooperation between defence industries to identify areas of co-production and co-development.

The two sides also signed an agreement on the extension of loan of artifacts to the Asian Civilisations Museum of Singapore and an MoU between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the Indian IT department and Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCERT), Singapore's Cyber Security Agency on security cooperation.

The MoU promotes closer cooperation and exchange of information pertaining to cyber security between the Computer Emergency Response Teams of the two countries by establishment of a broader framework for future dialogue; exchange of information on cyber attacks; research collaboration in smart technologies; cyber security policies and best practices as well as professional exchanges.

Bilateral pacts were also signed for greater cooperation in areas like urban development and cultural exchange.

Modi, who arrived here last evening and addressed the prestigious Singapore Lecture, held a breakfast meeting with prominent citizens of Singapore earlier today.

Later, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong called on Modi. In his Lecture yesterday, Modi talked about contributions made by Tong, who was Singapore's second Prime Minister, towards strong ties between India and Singapore.