Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony will visit Singapore, Australia and Thailand from June 3-6. In Singapore, Antony will meet his counterpart Dr. Ng Eng Hen to review defence ties and discuss ways to cooperate on regional and global security situations.
In his maiden visit to Australia as the Indian Defence Minister (as also the first visit of an Indian Defence Minister to the country), he will meet his counterpart, Stephen Smith, to discuss ways to enhance exchanges between the defence establishments and armed forces of the two countries. He is also expected to hold discussions with the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard.
In the last leg of his four-day visit, he will visit Thailand to hold discussions with his counterpart Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat and the Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra. Both sides will review bilateral ties, and deliberate on means to enhance the existing mechanisms for exchanges between the armed forces and joint patrols of both nations along their maritime boundary.
India shares strong defence and bilateral ties with Singapore, Australia and Thailand. India and Singapore signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2003 and also renewed the Bilateral Agreement for the Conduct of Joint Military Training and Exercises in 2012. India and Australia have seen frequent exchanges between the armed forces of the two countries. The two sides held a Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in 2011 and a Track 1.5 Defence Strategic Dialogue in 2012. India and Thailand held the first meeting of the India-Thailand Defence Dialogue in 2011. The two sides cooperate in a number of areas including counter-terrorism, piracy and capacity building of the armed forces.