Singapore: Indian warships, submarine & aircraft in Singapore for bilateral combat exercise

NEW DELHI: In a major naval deployment to South East Asia, two frontline Indian warships, a diesel-electric submarine and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft have reached Singapore to take part in a bilateral combat exercise and boost military interoperability.
Guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kavaratti, Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhukesari and a P-8I aircraft will jointly undertake combat drills with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) during the “SIMBEX” exercise from Thursday.
“This will be the 30^th edition of the annual SIMBEX naval exercise, which has been conducted since 1994. It holds the distinction of being the longest continuous naval exercise that the Indian Navy has with any other country,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.
“The sea phase of this SIMBEX will involve complex and advanced air defence exercises, gunnery firings, tactical manoeuvres, anti-submarine warfare exercises and other maritime operations,” he said.
“Units of both the navies will endeavour to hone their war-fighting skills, while consolidating their capability to undertake multi-discipline operations jointly in the maritime domain,” he added.

With an expansionist and aggressive China figuring high on its radar screen, India has been steadily upgrading defence ties with ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines through regular joint exercises, military exchanges and training programmes.
Towards this end, the first-ever ASEAN-India maritime exercise (AIME) was also conducted in May. Warships from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam conducted joint drills in the contentious South China Sea, where China is locked in territorial disputes with its maritime neighbours, during the AIME.
India also aims to crank up arms supplies to ASEAN countries after the $375 million deal with the Philippines for the supply of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in January 2022. The export order is expected to pave the way for similar deals with other countries like Indonesia and Vietnam in the region, as was reported by TOI earlier.
Singapore, under bilateral agreements inked over a decade ago, uses Indian military facilities for training of its mechanized forces at Babina, artillery at the Deolali ranges and F-16 fighter jets at the Kalaikunda airbase on a regular basis. India has also inked a naval pact with Singapore to access each other’s bases and reciprocal logistics support for warships as well as a submarine rescue support agreement.
Similarly, India recently “gifted” an indigenously-built missile corvette to Vietnam, while also agreeing to step-up training of Vietnamese personnel in submarine and fighter jet operations, cyber-security and electronic warfare, among other fields.