WASHINGTON - After almost 11 years as Singapore’s ambassador to the United States, Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri returns home this week from his front-row seat to America’s intensifying competition with China. The 63-year-old veteran diplomat’s tenure began in July 2012 and spanned the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew, who has been serving as Singapore’s ambassador to China since 2019, has been appointed as the Republic’s next ambassador to the United States.

Mr Mirpuri reflects on why a drama-free relationship is the best-case scenario for US-Singapore ties, where the US-China relationship is headed, and what he has learnt travelling to 49 out of the 50 American states, in a valedictory interview with The Straits Times US bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh and correspondent Charissa Yong.

ST: How would you characterise US-Singapore relations during your tenure here?

Mr Mirpuri: It’s a fairly stable, steady relationship. We have interests that align and we keep building on them. What we have very much tried to do in our relationship with the United States is to avoid sudden fits and starts. We keep all administrations aware of our strategic interests and these align with US interests.

So it’s not been dramatic differences. The way we really approach the relationship is: Let’s keep building on a solid foundation, look for areas of cooperation, keep them moving forward, and make sure that the leaders meet regularly. And that’s really the way we’ve done it, irrespective of whether it’s a Democratic or Republican administration. I expect that this will continue into the future. No drama – that’s the relationship we would like to have with the US.

ST: What was Singapore’s biggest diplomatic win during your time here?

Mr Mirpuri: The most pleasant surprise to me was when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was invited here for an official visit with a state dinner in 2016. If you look at the record of countries being invited… they tend to be big countries.

The visit was really a day of celebration of Singapore in Washington. The flags were up, the crowds were there to greet the two leaders, there was a black-tie dinner with speeches and toasts. That symbolism of a close partnership between Singapore and the US was really one of the highlights for me. 

And when then President Donald Trump decided to pick Singapore for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018, there was a certain comfort, credibility, and confidence in Singapore that we can deliver. We’re fortunate that the US sees us positively. We’re fortunate that the Prime Minister is very highly regarded in Washington and in the US. These all add up.

ST: What has changed the most since you took up your post in July 2012?

Mr Mirpuri: It’s a very different geopolitical context. When I came here in 2012, the Obama administration was very focused on what they called the “pivot to Asia”. That became in many ways the priority for their engagement with Singapore, and with the countries of South-east Asia.

Today, the changing strategic environment has meant that US-China competition has become front and centre of US foreign policy. That means Singapore and South-east Asia are very much in the confluence of this competition and relationship.

ST: What is your assessment of the direction of the US-China relationship? And how much agency does it leave Singapore – and more broadly Asean?

Mr Mirpuri: The US-China relationship is really now a relationship between great powers, and it will continue in that direction. How do they make the necessary tactical adjustments to deal with each other – do you have engagements? Do you have conversations? Are you creating the so-called guardrails (to prevent competition from spiralling into conflict)? The US and China will have to deal with that.

We are in many ways bystanders in this – but not without agency. At minimum, Singapore and the other South-east Asian countries… say that we would like there to be more stability in US-China relations. Both sides generally pay some heed to that. Amid the competition, we just say, can you find some areas in which there can be some stability? 

That’s really what we can do: to engage both the US and China, looking at our interests, operating on our own principles, and making sure that we can have a good relationship with both of them. Not one over the other.

One thing that Singapore continues to try to do very much is to keep the US actively engaged in the region, both in terms of security and economic arrangements. Having the US play an active leadership role in the region is critical for Singapore and the Asean countries. When they invited the Asean leaders here in May 2022 for the Asean Summit, it was a very important signal that the US is keenly interested in the region. As long as the US stays actively engaged in the region, I think Singapore will find a way in which we can work with them and all the regional partners.

ST: What does one need to understand about US domestic politics and the extent to which it influences foreign policy?

Mr Mirpuri: Domestic politics drives foreign policy. In the United States, there is a wider diversity of voices and interests on the domestic policy front.

The reason why I travelled to so many states is because states have a voice in this relationship as well. In Washington itself, we engage with the administration, the agencies and career officials, and Congress. That diversity of voices shapes domestic policy, along with a whole range of interest groups. The embassy has to engage across this whole broad spectrum of people to keep them aware of Singapore’s interests with the US, and to have its ear on the ground to pick up on shifts taking place. 

Take the issue of trade. As you travel around the states, you see a pushback against trade agreements, states that felt damaged by trade agreements like Nafta (North American Free Trade Agreement) in the 1990s. That really has cascaded into a different approach to thinking about economic arrangements. Administrations started taking more heed of what is happening on the ground, rather than just pushing a trade agenda. They tried to do that, but there was an expectation that trade would trickle down a lot quicker and more effectively. For many people, that didn’t quite happen in the way they thought it should. 

ST: Have you been to all 50 states in America?

Mr Mirpuri: I’ve been to 49 states. Wyoming is missing.

ST: Were there any teachable moments during your travels that gave you specific insight into the priorities and concerns of state governments and local business leaders?

Mr Mirpuri: Within my first year, I made sure I got to what they call ‘flyover country’, the Midwest. Because that’s where you get a sense of what really is that centre of American thinking, and they feel somewhat neglected by foreign countries. I was received with great enthusiasm… they were always very receptive to listening to perspectives that came from outside, particularly from Singapore.

What I took back from these places was a depth of friendliness, of keenness to learn about the world, even as many may not have known very much about Singapore. The advice I give to ambassadors who come is to just get out of the Beltway (the highway encircling Washington) as often as you can. 

ST: Being in Washington is a very high-pressure job. How do you manage to keep fit?

Mr Mirpuri: I found a lot of benefit from solitary running, because it just gave me some time to clear my head. Being in a city with all its running trails really encouraged this. There were no excuses, you could get out whether in the heat of summer or the cold of winter.

I got into participating in some organised races over here in Washington. These were very nice events, to be able to get out and just go running with thousands of people and enjoy the city. It does require discipline to train for, but it just kept me sort of focused and gave me a little bit of breakaway from my work. The last one I did was the 10-mile (16km) Cherry Blossom Run. 

ST: What will you miss most about being in Washington?

Mr Mirpuri: Like I miss every other place I’ve lived in, I’ll miss Washington – it’s a very pleasant, liveable city. But the thing I will miss most is the day-to-day conversations that give you particular insights, the political gossip of Washington, because that is where a lot of that engagement takes place. Listening to what they say and trying to piece together things, it keeps you on your toes. In many ways, there is no other capital that provides that intellectual breadth and depth of conversation as Washington.

ST: And what will you miss the least?

Mr Mirpuri: The distance from Singapore, because Washington, is really at the other side of the world. You’re in an exciting job, but you’re taken away from home. I will not miss being so far away from home.

• The interview has been edited for length and clarity.