Port Blair, Nov. 18: The Defence Minister of Singapore, Dr NG Eng Hen will arrive at Port Blair tomorrow on a visit to Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), as a precursor to Defence Ministers Dialogue being held at Visakhapatnam on 19th and 20th Nov 2018, under the aegis of Defence Cooperation Agreement between India and Singapore.

During his maiden visit to Andaman Nicobar Islands, Dr NG Eng Hen will call on the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman Nicobar Islands, Admiral DK Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM, NM (Retd) and would also interact with Vice Admiral Bimal Verma, AVSM, ADC, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman & Nicobar Command.

On arrival at ANC, the Defence Minister will be briefed on the strategic dimensions of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and on the role and capabilities of the ANC. He will also visit the defence facilities at ANC during his stay here. The Minister’s visit coincides with the 25th edition of the ongoing Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise, SIMBEX-18.

In the recently held harbour phase of SIMBEX, five Royal Singapore Navy (RSN) ships had visited Port Blair from 10 to 12 Nov 18. The exercise at sea this year is the largest of its kind in terms of the complexity and weapon firing and is unprecedented in terms of the number of practice missiles fired during an exercise with a foreign Navy.