New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Singapore on September 4, 5 to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. The prime minister’s visit comes a fortnight after the high-level roundtable between top ministers of both countries.

“Ties between India and Singapore are poised to take-off to an entirely new level of cooperation,” the Ministry of External Affairs said at the special briefing about the Prime Minister’s visit.

Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Singapore comes after six years, said Secretary East, Ministry of External Affairs, Jaideep Mazumdar. India and Singapore are looking to significantly enhance their cooperation in the semiconductor sector, he added.

He also said that the PM’s visit to Singapore is “important for trade and investment”.

Singapore is India’s largest trade partner in ASEAN. It is also a leading source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the last financial year with an investment of $11.77 billion in 2023 alone,” he said, adding that Singapore is India’s sixth largest trade partner worldwide.

During his two-day visit, Prime Minister Modi will also address CEOs, he said.

“Investments have also been very large. Since 2000 till now, we have an accumulative FDI of USD 160 billion dollars. There will be an interaction with business leaders in the PM’s visit. This will be an important element of the visit as Prime Minister will address the CEOs in his visit, where they will hear India’s growth story first hand,” Mr Mazumdar said.

“His [PM Modi’s] first visit to Singapore was in his first term as the Prime Minister. This visit is of great significance as it’s his visit early in his term, and also as the new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has taken oath recently and Singaporeans are excited to welcome PM Modi. This is an opportune time to set the stage for India-Singapore’s vibrant bilateral relations for the next stage of India-Singapore bilateral relations. Our ties have evolved and we have a dynamic strategic partnership encompassing diverse areas from our shared history and people-to-people ties, which form an important link between us,” he added.

Speaking about the special roundtable framework shared by the two nations, he said “We have identified new anchors of our partnership under the India-Singapore ministerial roundtable framework. The visit will also take place in the light of our 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations which we’re celebrating in 2025 and 10th year of our strategic partnership with Singapore.”

“During the recently concluded India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, which is a unique forum between ministers on both sides on diverse areas, a number of new forward-looking futuristic areas were identified in digitization, skill, sustainability, health, advanced manufacturing and connectivity. We are likely to exchange a number of MoUs in these areas in the forthcoming visit of the PM,” he said.
 

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Singapore soon to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. The specific dates for the prime minister’s official visit are not known yet, but it will happen shortly, a top official said.

Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Singapore was mentioned by Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan after senior ministers of India and Singapore concluded a high-level meeting to further their strategic ties.

A four-member Indian delegation comprising Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Railway & IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw participated in the second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) in Singapore.

Calling the meeting “productive”, Mr Balakrishnan said, “We will, very shortly, be announcing an official visit by Prime Minister Modi to Singapore. I cannot give you the specific date, but it will occur shortly”.

During the multi-ministerial meeting, the two countries discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation in the digital arena, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and manufacturing.

Mr Balakrishnan further said that advanced manufacturing and semiconductors, as well as aviation and maritime connectivity are the new areas that Singapore and India have added to their bilateral talks.

“A country with more than 1.4 billion people is now embarking on a major upgrade of its aviation sector. This is a once in a two, three-decade opportunity, and it’s good that we are, in a sense, in the front seat and have a chance (to collaborate),” he said.

At the meeting, Singapore was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.

“During the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed the close and long-standing relationship between the two nations, underpinned by strong economic and people-to-people ties,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a joint release.

Besides a link-up between Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in February 2023, which lets financial institutions from both sides transfer funds in real time, the two countries have also facilitated investments in renewable energy, such as green ammonia.

“I am confident that the discussions we had today and those in the future will pave the way to foster greater collaboration between Singapore and India,” Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister said.

An official announcement by the Ministry of External Affairs regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit is awaited.

(Inputs from PTI)