Singaporean forces train in Uttar Pradesh

Facing a space-crunch in their own country, Singaporean armoured forces are taking part in a month-long training exercises at Indian Army's Babina field-firing range in Uttar Pradesh.

Around 550 personnel of the Singaporean Army along with their armoured personnel carriers, Bronco all-terrain tracked vehicles, Spike anti-tank guided missiles and other latest equipment are participating in the exercise, which started on March 1, army officials said.

"The month long training exercise will culminate in a bilateral joint exercise codenamed 'Bold Kurukshetra' involving the Indian mechanised forces," they added.

As part of defence cooperation agreements signed in 2003 and 2008, Indian defence facilities are annually used by the Singaporean armed forces to train its personnel as it does not have the required training space.

Singaporean Air Force trains at the Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal whereas its land forces practice at the Deolali artillery firing ranges and Babina.

Singapore has similar agreements with countries such as the US, France, Australia, Thailand and Brunei.

Singapore makes payment to India for using the training facilities and has stationed some of its military equipment at Babina on a permanent basis.

Indian forces also get the opportunity to train on the Singaporean equipment such as F-16 fighters during such training exercises.

Indian Air Force holds a joint air-to-air exercise codenamed 'Sindex' with Singapore whereas the two navies conduct the 'Simbex' exercise every year.