The visiting Singapore Defence Minister Dr NG Eng Hen stressed the need for building consensus in the region where India can take the lead as it has the sense of “practical cooperation via an open and inclusive regional security architecture.”

Dr Hen met the Indian Defence Minister AK Antony at a delegation level talks on Wednesday where both agreed to further enhance the bilateral defence relationship in the mutual interest and for contributing to regional peace and stability.

They expressed satisfaction over the wide ranging comprehensive defence exchanges between both the countries.

Both the Ministers also agreed that the on-going interactions between the defence establishments of the two countries, including through regular joint military training and exercises, had been useful. They also agreed to continue such interactions.

They also exchanged views on the global and regional security scenario. In the context of the security situation in the Asia Pacific region, both the Ministers 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.

Both the Ministers noted the commonalities in the security concerns of India and Singapore and acknowledged that there was scope for both countries to continue to work together for regional peace and stability. To this end, 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 Singapore Defence Minister, who is on a three-day visit to India, was accompanied by the High Commissioner of Singapore in India, Ms Karen Tan and other officials of the Singapore Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces. The Indian delegation included Defence Secretary and CISC as well as other senior officers of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces.

Prior to the meeting, Dr Hen laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti. He was also accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour.

On Tuesday speaking at the Institute of defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on the topic 'Security Cooperation in a Changing Strategic Landscape', Dr Hen said that the ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region has enormous growth potential, but the realistic calculations can be upset if tensions prevail over South China Sea and East China Sea. The current tensions between China and Japan have impacted the economy of the region. There has been boycott of Japanese goods in China and closure of Japanese business.

“We need to examine all the strategic relations in the region,” he said.

He said that there was a need to examine US-China relationship, Japan-China relationship and US-Japan relationship. Besides the situation in the Korean peninsula remains explosive. The issues of nuclear proliferation and natural disaster are the areas of concern.

“We need the cooperation of all stakeholders,” said Dr Hen.

He praised Antony’s words of “Spirit of Consensus” at the last Shangri-La Dialogue.

Dr Hen said : Dr Ng said, 'Singapore believes that India can and should play a major role in these various fora to promote peace, stability and progress for the region. India is a rising power… India's greater engagement of Southeast Asia, as it has been done in the past through meaningful multilateral engagement and a strong web of bilateral relationships, would also serve India's strategic and economic interests in the future.'

He said that multilateral fora like the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus and the Shangri-La Dialogue provided platforms for countries to engage in constructive dialogues to build cooperation and common understanding. He described India as a key stakeholder in the Asia-Pacific region whose growing strategic weight could allow it to lend leadership and contribute to a more robust and balanced regional security architecture.