INDIA-CHINA,SINGAPORE

The two-day India-China counter-terrorism dialogue ended on 12 April 2013 in Beijing China. The two nations discussed upon the ways to step up cooperation to counter terror in Afghanistan as a follow up plan after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2014.

Issues Discussed and Agreed

• The two sides exchanged views and opinions on regional and international counter terrorism situation and bilateral cooperation in the field
• Discussions were made on the fragile condition of Afghanistan and increased attacks from Taliban that would emerge after withdrawal of US forces from the country, they also discussed upon the initiatives planned to be taken by India, China and Russia to deal with the situation.

India and China held their First Dialogue on Afghanistan in Beijing

India and China on 18 April 2013 held their first dialogue on Afghanistan in Beijing in a bid to evolve a joint strategy to deal with much feared possible return of Taliban and al-Qaeda after the departure of US troops in 2014. India and China agreed that Afghan issue concerns regional security and stability. China and India are two important countries in the region and consultations on Afghanistan help them to coordinate positions, deepen cooperation and contribute to early settlement of the issue. This is the first time that China held such a dialogue with India on Afghanistan, expanding consultations with its close ally Pakistan and Russia.

India and Singapore on 2 April 2013 signed an enhanced air services agreement to build on the existing 216 weekly flights and meet the growing demand for air connectivity between both the countries. It is evident that the demand for air services between both countries is growing continuously so the the bilateral air services agreement in this context is basically enhanced to include more capacity entitlements. It is also entitled as per the enhancement agreement that both countries would meet regularly to review air services matters. It is important here to note that Singapore is linked by air services to 12 Indian cities, having the most frequent flights to India out of Southeast Asia. The agreement was signed by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and Singapore Transport Minister Liu Tuck Yew. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh was present in Singapore from 2 April 2013 to 4 April 2013. He had also discussed the importance of air connectivity in enhancing bilateral trade ties between India and Singapore, with S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister, Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Trade & Industry and Home Affairs.

India and Singapore Signed Memorandum of Understanding on Air Services

India and Singapore on 2 April 2013 signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral air services arrangement during the visit of Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh to Singapore. It rationalizes the capacity entitlements of both countries in terms of seats per week in each direction with a route specific cap for Singapore on each route. The MoU also enhances, by 10%, the capacity entitlement with India now entitled to operate 29,400 weekly passenger seats from India to Singapore and the designated airlines of Singapore entitled to operate 28,700 weekly passenger seats from Singapore to India. No additional point of call has been given to Singapore. India also did not agree to the demand of Singapore for additional point of calls from Pune and Madurai. The common pool rights to the extent of 5160 seats earlier available to Singapore, which provided greater operational flexibility to Singapore carriers at major metro centres viz Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, have now been withdrawn. The designated airlines of Singapore can operate with any aircraft type except A-380. The delegation level talks were held between Prabhat Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Yap Ong Heng, Director-General, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. Both the sides have agreed to review and update the air services agreement and meet every two years to discuss various air services matters.