SINGAPORE and India are upgrading their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership as both countries look to boost trade and investment while deepening cooperation in a wide range of areas, including semiconductors and defence.
The agreement to elevate ties was made during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day official visit to the city-state at the invitation of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
The upgrade, announced on PM Wong’s Facebook page on Thursday (Sep 5), comes as Singapore and India’s strategic partnership approaches its 10th anniversary next year.
“We have set out a forward-looking agenda for the next phase of our bilateral relations,” he said in his post. This, he added, includes sustainability, advanced manufacturing, digital technologies and connectivity.
In a joint statement following their meeting, both leaders reaffirmed the importance of trade, investments, defence cooperation, culture and people-to-people exchanges in overall bilateral cooperation.
They also expressed “convergence of views” on various regional and international issues, including the “regional security dynamics”, without going into specifics. Both sides reiterated their determination to work together to maintain peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.
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Earlier, both leaders witnessed the exchange of four memoranda of understanding (MOUs). These agreements aim to advance bilateral cooperation in the fields of digital technologies, semiconductors, skill development and health.
Two of these pacts were inked last week on the sidelines of the second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, a high-level platform that Modi described as a “path-breaking mechanism” that the two countries have established.
“Singapore is not merely a partner country; it serves as an inspiration for every developing nation,” he said in his opening remarks in Hindi during his meeting with PM Wong ahead of the MOU exchange.
“We also aim to create multiple ‘Singapore’ within India. I am pleased that we are collaborating towards this goal.”
During their meeting, both leaders discussed potential collaboration in new areas such as cross-border electricity trade and green ammonia supply chains, and a joint flagship programme for skills training, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
They are also keen to enhance cross-border data flows via the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, as well as cooperate in developing industrial parks in India.
In a separate media briefing, Jaideep Mazumdar, secretary (east) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said discussions also focused on roles India, Singapore and Asean can play in “making this an Asian century”.
Asked about what the comprehensive strategic partnership entails, he said India and Singapore have a “multi-dimensional partnership” with “great complementarities”.
“We complement each other, and we need each other in order to develop further.” In particular, the four MOUs pave the way for relations between the two countries to be “future ready”, he said.
On how this would affect the Indian diaspora in Singapore, he said the diaspora is a “great bridge” between the two countries, reflected in the warmth in the business environment and leadership.
Modi’s day began with a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House. Following his meeting with PM Wong and the MOU exchange, he was given a tour of Singapore semiconductor firm AEM’s facilities, where he also met other industry representatives.
He was then hosted to lunch by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Modi said in a Facebook post that it was “gladdening” to meet his friend, who “has always been a strong votary of close India-Singapore ties”.
Next, the Indian leader made a courtesy call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam before attending a meeting with Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
In the evening, Modi participated in a closed-door business roundtable with Singapore business leaders at Shangri-la Hotel.
At the roundtable, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong noted that much has changed since Modi first visited Singapore in 2015.
India today is a fast-growing economy with new industrial corridors and emerging growth sectors in renewable energy, electronics and electric vehicles, noted Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry.
As both Singapore and India progress, Gan said it is important for both economies to stay nimble by tapping the growth of new sectors while strengthening connections in traditional ones.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat told the inaugural Singapore-India Forum 2024 on Thursday morning that the partnership between the two countries has enabled growth and development on both sides through the decades.
Yet, the significance of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) lies not just in deepening economic linkages between India and Singapore, he said.
Its wider value, he said, is in serving as a pathfinder for other agreements to foster closer economic linkages between India and Asean, and India and other Asian economies.
“In a more contested world, our steady partnership can serve as a beacon, to rally like-minded partners to cooperate for growth and development, to harness technology and innovation, and to deepen trust and appreciation for each other’s diversity,” he said.
