Australia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop military training areas and facilities in Australia.
Singapore will fund a A$2.25 billion (US$1.7 billion) expansion of military training facilities in Australia, a government source said on Friday.
Singapore will have enhanced and expanded military training access in Australia over a period of 25 years. The two will strengthen intelligence and information sharing, such as in counterterrorism, the city state’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The move to forge closer military ties between Australia and Singapore comes at a time of rising tensions between much of Asia and China, which has been building military and civilian facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea.
“The kind of military relationships that [Singapore] have and types of military ties that they are developing and deepening, they don’t have with China,” said Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“I am not saying that this is being done overtly to deal with China, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t a major driver behind this.”
The region is also facing rising risks from Islamic extremists. Earlier this week, Singapore said it had detained eight Bangladeshi men who were planning attacks in their homeland. It deported five others who were arrested by police in Dhaka.