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Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo - X)
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong arrived in India on Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which the two countries will sign key agreements to shore up ties in sectors such as green energy, shipping, civil aviation and space.
This is Wong’s first visit to India as Singapore’s Prime Minister. Announcing his visit on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Wong is visiting India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is accompanied by three senior cabinet ministers — Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang — and senior officials.
PM Modi and PM Wong will hold bilateral discussions and sign key agreements on Thursday. The visiting PM will also call on President Droupadi Murmu and meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other Cabinet ministers. He is also scheduled to visit Rajghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.
“Singapore is an important partner for India, including in our ‘Act East’ Policy,” said the MEA on Tuesday. During the visit of PM Modi to Singapore in September 2024, bilateral ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Sources said the overall focus of Wong’s first visit to India as Prime Minister will be to further explore ways to expand two-way economic engagement between the two sides. The two PMs will virtually inaugurate a container terminal in Maharashtra on Thursday, wherein Singapore has invested over USD 1 billion (Rs 8,800 crore).
They say the two countries are expanding and deepening collaboration in future-oriented areas such as sustainability, advanced manufacturing, digitalisation, skills development, connectivity and space. This is also aimed at tackling current geopolitical challenges and building resilience for the future in the wake of disruptions caused by wars and trade and tariff barriers.
Wong’s visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of India-Singapore diplomatic relations. The MEA said it “reaffirms” the continued commitment of the two countries to further strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.
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“The visit will provide an opportunity for both prime ministers to review our robust and multi-faceted cooperation and to set the path for future collaboration,” it said, adding they will also engage on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The visit is expected to set the tone for the next phase of bilateral cooperation in traditional and emerging areas. The two countries are looking at the possibility of exporting solar energy from India to Singapore via an underwater cable. Export of green ammonia and green hydrogen from India to Singapore is also being explored, it said.
Path For Future Collaboration
The focus of Lawrence Wong’s first visit to India as Prime Minister — with several ministers in tow — is to expand two-way economic ties with New Delhi and explore areas such as space, solar energy, data storage and green hydrogen that have huge potential in the coming days. Singapore is India’s top foreign investor and has accounted for about 24% of India’s FDI equity inflows since 2000.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
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