Singapore President to meet PM Modi today

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday as India and Singapore celebrate the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. During his Singapore visit last year, Modi elevated the relationship between the two nations to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.

India was among the first countries to recognise Singapore’s independence in 1965. President Shanmugaratnam arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday evening for a five-day official visit.

The two nations have held two rounds of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), identifying key areas for cooperation, including digitalisation, skills development, sustainability, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and connectivity.

Bilateral trade between India and Singapore reached $35.6 billion in 2023–24, with Singapore emerging as the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India. FDI equity inflows from Singapore during the same period amounted to $11.774 billion.

India and Singapore share strong collaborations in skill development and financial services. Singapore was the first country with which India launched a cross-border person-to-person (P2P) payment facility. Additionally, both nations have an agreement on semiconductor cluster development, focusing on cultivating talent in semiconductor design and manufacturing. Singaporean companies, integral to global semiconductor value chains, have shown a keen interest in investing in India.

Defence cooperation between the two countries is robust, with regular joint exercises involving their armies, navies and air forces. Key exercises include Agni Warrior and Exercise Bold Kurukshetra for the armies, SIMBEX for the navies and Joint Military Training for the air forces. The 31st edition of SIMBEX was held in India from October 23 to 29, 2023. Singapore also co-hosted the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise in its territory in 2023.

Cultural ties between India and Singapore are strong, with Tamil recognised as one of Singapore’s national languages. Furthermore, Singapore boasts the highest concentration of alumni from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) outside India.