Cooperation between Singapore and India is based not just on words and rhetoric but also on concrete action and outcomes, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his first official visit to India, from Sept 2 to 4, in his current capacity as PM.
Singapore’s confidence in India is longstanding and backed by proven track record and actions, Mr Wong said on his New Delhi visit that coincides with the celebration of 60 years of bilateral relations between both countries.
The celebrations started in January when President Tharman Shanmugaratnam made a State Visit to India, touring New Delhi and Odisha.
In the visit that reaffirms Singapore and India’s mutual commitment to strengthen ties, the Prime Minister called on Indian President Draupathi Murmu and met his counterpart Narendra Modi, who hosted a banquet lunch.
PM Wong had separate meetings with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party President, and Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Jagat Prakash Nadda, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
On Sep 3, PM Wong visited Raj Ghat to pay tribute to the late Mahatma Gandhi. He was accompanied by his wife, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang.
They witnessed the laying of a wreath of flowers, and petals as a mark of respect. Mr Wong was also presented with a bust of Gandhi and a collection of books on Gandhi by the secretary of the Rajghat Samadhi Committee Rajnish Kumar. Mrs Wong was presented with a model of a Charkha (spinning wheel).
Later that evening, PM Wong attended a reception at the Taj Mahal Hotel for more than 200 overseas Singaporeans, including some who had travelled from other parts of India, such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.
PM Wong also met business leaders from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) earlier on Wednesday, which he called a productive exchange on deepening cooperation between companies from both sides.
“We discussed how companies on both sides can deepen cooperation in areas such as AI, biotech, green energy and semiconductors. This will not only open up new opportunities for our economies, but also strengthen the dynamism and growth of Asia as a whole,” said PM Wong in a Facebook post on the first full day of his engagements in New Delhi.
As the largest investor in India for seven consecutive years, relations between the two countries reached a new high when Mr Modi visited Singapore in September 2024, when the two Prime Ministers agreed to elevate the ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
“We will have an ambitious roadmap, setting out all the different areas of cooperation and how we want to pursue them further, the different pillars, and this will give clear direction and vision for the next phase of India-Singapore relations,” said PM Wong on operationalising the CSP.
Both Prime Ministers witnessed the exchange of five Memorandums of Understandings (MOU) and virtually inaugurated the second phase of PSA Mumbai, which is the longest container terminal in India with 2,000 metres of quay length.
The MOUs will see the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing in Chennai, cooperations in digital assets to support trade and financial flows, cooperation in training, research and development in the field of civil aviation, promoting collaboration in the space sector and cooperation on a green and digital shipping corridor.
“We are optimistic about India’s growth prospects, because of your youth, young population, your rising middle class, your dynamic tech sector, and importantly, a government that is committed to reforms,” said PM Wong, in an exclusive interview with the Hindustan Times.
