S’pore confident in India’s future: PM Wong
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (right) meeting India Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Sep 2.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Follow topic:
- PM Wong affirms Singapore's confidence in India, demonstrated by its status as India's largest foreign investor and top Asean trading partner.
- Singapore and India aim to deepen cooperation in AI, biotech, green energy, and semiconductors, building on the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable discussions.
- Both countries are developing a roadmap for their comprehensive strategic partnership, discussing cooperation in cross-border data flows and financial linkages.
AI generated
NEW DELHI - Singapore is confident in India’s future, and this confidence is expressed in the city state’s consistent actions and strong track record of partnership, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sept 3.
Among the areas where firms from both countries can deepen cooperation are artificial intelligence, biotech, green energy and semiconductors, PM Wong said in a Facebook post on the first full day of his engagements in New Delhi.
PM Wong, who is on an official visit to India, noted that Singapore has been India’s largest foreign investor for the past seven years, and that the Republic is India’s top trading partner in Asean.
These close ties are reinforced by the many Indian enterprises represented in the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said.
He had met leaders from the business and industry advocacy group earlier on Sept 3, in what he called a productive exchange on deepening cooperation between companies from both sides.
Such cooperation will not only open up new opportunities for both economies, but also strengthen the dynamism and growth of Asia as a whole, said PM Wong.
These were among the areas of cooperation that leaders from both countries had discussed in August at the third India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, a key bilateral platform to boost collaboration in emerging fields.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong had led a six-minister delegation to India then,
Those discussions laid the foundation for Singapore and India as the two countries work to establish a road map to flesh out their comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP).
Both countries had agreed to elevate diplomatic ties to a CSP about a year ago, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore in September 2024.
On Sept 3, PM Wong also visited the Raj Ghat memorial to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
He was accompanied by Mrs Wong, as well as 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 then placed petals on it in a mark of respect.
PM Lawrence Wong and his wife Mrs Wong laying a wreath at Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on Sep 3. Together with them are Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Gan Siow Huang (far left), Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow and Mr Rajnish Kumar, secretary of the Rajghat Samadhi Committee (in white).
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
PM Wong was also presented with a bust of Gandhi and a collection of books written about the late freedom fighter and national hero.
Mrs Wong received a model of a charkha, also known as a spinning wheel. The charkha is a symbol closely associated with Gandhi, who was often pictured spinning his own cotton, and the wheel became a symbol to promote self-reliance.
In the afternoon, PM Wong met Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Jagat Prakash Nadda, who is also president of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The two leaders had a wide-ranging exchange that included the Indian government’s priorities and key developments, said PM Wong on social media platform X.
In the evening, PM Wong attended a reception in New Delhi for more than 200 overseas Singaporeans. Some of them had travelled from other parts of India, including Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
The reception at the Taj Mahal Hotel in the Indian capital marked 60 years of diplomatic ties between Singapore and India.
PM Lawrence Wong (centre), flanked by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow, and Singapore High Commissioner to India Simon Wong (far left) together with participants at the SG60 commemorative reception in New Delhi, at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Sep 3.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
PM Wong’s visit to India – his first as head of government – comes amid a series of high-level meetings between leaders from both sides as the two countries mark six decades of bilateral ties.
He had arrived on the evening of Sept 2 in New Delhi, where he was received by Indian Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.
That evening, PM Wong met his Indian Finance Ministry counterpart, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, and they discussed both countries’ interest in collaborating on cross-border data flows and capital markets.
“There is great potential for Singapore and India to further bolster our financial and digital linkages,” he said on X.
On Sept 4, PM Wong is expected to meet Mr Modi, with their discussions likely to centre on exploring concrete ways to advance Singapore-India cooperation through the CSP road map.
