India, Singapore sign military training deal

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) India and Singapore Wednesday signed three key bilateral agreements that included one on continuing the military training that Indian armed forces extend to their Singaporean counterparts.

The agreements were signed to coincide with the state visit of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and after the two leaders met for formal talks.

The agreement was signed by Indian Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Singapore's Permanent Secretary for Defence Chiang Chie Foo.

India is already training the Singaporean air force at the Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal, where the city state has permanently placed its air assets for training purposes.

The two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian labour and employment ministry and Singapore's education ministry for cooperation in vocational education and skills development.

The MoU was signed by Indian Labour Minister Malikarjun Kharge and Singapore Education Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Another pact was signed between the Delhi government's training and technical education department and Singapore's Institute of Technical Education in the field of vocational education and skills development.

The agreement will facilitate the setting up of a greenfield world class centre here to provide state-of-the-art facility for skills development.