Stressing that India and Singapore have “multidimensional relationship”, Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Jaideep Mazumdar, said on Thursday that the two nations complement each other and need each other to develop further.
While addressing a special briefing on PM Modi’s visit to Singapore, Mazumdar said that India and Singapore have “strong relations” and have frequent exchanges between military establishments, navies and air forces.
Mazumdar said, “We have a very multidimensional relationship. We have very strong relations in the defence side as well, where we do joint exercises together. We have very frequent exchanges between our military establishments, between our navies, our air forces, our leaderships of all three services interact very frequently. We have ship visits, we exchange domain awareness information.”
“We would like to also cooperate further in maritime domain awareness. So, this is one area where we cooperate very closely and the other of course is in all the areas of economy, trade and investment. Singapore is our biggest foreign investor since 2020. Since 2000, Singapore has invested nearly 100 and 60 billion dollars in India. Last year, Singapore was the biggest foreign investor in India. We are going into the next stage of sustainable technologies, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing such as semiconductors and also in health and in skilling. So these are all areas where we have great complementarities. We complement each other and we need each other in order to develop further.”
Stressing that Indian diaspora plays a bridge between India and Singapore, he said, “I think the diaspora is also a great bridge between us and therefore you see see it in the business environment here you see it in the leadership. Here you see the warmth that is there across the leadership. So, I would say that Singapore has also been a safe, secure place for Indians and people of Indian origin to grow and prosper. So the more we get closer together. I think it will only benefit them.”
He stated that the discussion between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leadership of Singapore focused on how India and Singapore can play a big role in making it a ASEAN century. He said that free and open commerce, free sea lines of communication and overflight, are important for both India and Singapore.
On being asked whether China was discussed between PM Modi and Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong with regards to furthering ties between India and ASEAN, Mazumdar said, “The discussions between the leadership of Singapore and our Prime Minister focused on how India and ASEAN, and with Singapore as one of our most important partners in ASEAN, can play in making this an ASEAN century. There is so much that we have in common. We are two of the fastest-growing regions in the world.”
“We have huge populations between us. We have young populations which is also so important and for both of us, peace is very important for us to grow and for us to grow together. Free and open commerce, free sea lines of communication and overflight, these are issues that are important for both us and for Singapore and these are some of the areas which we both sides feel that are important for maintaining the growth that we see in each other’s countries and the importance these play in making us leap forward to the next stage in our relations between India and can so in that respect, of course, all issues that are important, all global issues, all regional issues that can either help or hinder in this we also discussed,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday and exchanged ideas for further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Former Singapore PM Lee Hsein Loong hosted lunch in honour of PM Modi. The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release.
In a press release, MEA stated, “Recalling their earlier meetings, Prime Minister and Senior Minister Lee expressed satisfaction at the progress of India – Singapore relations into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
“They agreed that there exists substantial potential to do more, particularly under the pillars of cooperation identified during the two meetings of India – Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. They exchanged ideas for further strengthening bilateral cooperation and on regional and global issues of mutual interest,” it added.
Sharing details regarding his meeting with Singapore’s senior minister, PM Modi on X posted, “It is always gladdening to meet my friend and former PM of Singapore, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong. He has always been a strong votary of close India-Singapore ties. His insights on various matters are also very enriching. We had a great discussion on how our nations can work together in futuristic areas such as green energy, FinTech, etc.”
India and Singapore elevated their bilateral relations to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, on Thursday, during the visit of PM Modi.
PM Modi and Singapore PM Lawrence Wong met at the Parliament House in Singapore on Thursday. The two leaders, along with their delegations, held the bilateral meeting. Following this, the two sides exchanged four MoUs in the areas of digital technology, semiconductors, skill development and healthcare.
During the talks, both leaders reviewed the progress of India – Singapore bilateral relations. The leaders called for expanding trade and investment flows between India and Singapore.
“Given the breadth and depth of bilateral ties and immense potential, they decided to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This would also give a major boost to India’s Act East Policy,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
PM Modi and PM Wong also discussed the outcome of the 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable held in Singapore in August 2024. The discussion also covered the celebration of 60th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2025.
PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, visited the semiconductor facility of AEM Holdings Ltd. Singapore’s PM Lawrence Wong accompanied PM Modi during his visit to the semiconductor facility.
At the facility, PM Modi and Lawrence Wong also interacted with Indian interns from Odisha’s World Skill Centre undergoing training in Singapore, as well as Singaporean interns who had visited India under the CII-Enterprise Singapore India Ready Talent Programme and Indian engineers working at AEM, according to MEA press release.
PM Modi arrived in Singapore on Wednesday after concluding his two-day visit to Brunei. Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugham received PM Modi at the Changi Airport. He also received a warm welcome from the Indian community.
