In a letter dated July 4, President Halimah Yacob congratulated United States President Joe Biden and the American people on the country's 245th Independence Day.

Reaffirmed strong friendship between Singapore & the U.S.

Halimah described the partnership between Singapore and the U.S. as "longstanding, multifaceted and robust".

She further reaffirmed the "close friendship" between Singapore and the U.S., which is "built on mutual trust and a convergence of interests".

Such strong bilateral relations has guided the two countries' "strong ties in defence, security, economic and people-to-people relations over the past 55 years", she added.

Halimah also said she is glad to see that bilateral cooperation between both countries have continued to expand to include areas such as climate change, clean energy, digital economy, public health and cybersecurity.

In addition, the president reiterated Singapore's commitment to work together with the U.S. on its engagement in the region.

She said, "We will continue to work with the United States to further strengthen bilateral cooperation to advance our shared interests and address common challenges both regionally and globally."

Signs of normalcy returning

As the U.S. celebrated its Independence Day, there were signs of normalcy as the country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the country in the past year, leaving more than 600,000 Americans dead in its wake.

To celebrate the occasion, the White House opened up its gates to about 1,000 people in its largest event since Biden took office earlier this January, Reuters reported.

Throngs of people filled the streets and the night sky lit up with fireworks as Americans celebrated Independence Day with loosened Covid-19 restrictions.

In his speech, Biden hailed this year's Independence Day as a "special celebration" for the country is "emerging from the darkness of... a year of pandemic and isolation, a year of pain, fear and heartbreaking loss". 

The Biden administration has fallen short in its aim to achieve a 70 per cent vaccination rate among its residents by July 4, with 67 per cent of adults having received their first dose, Bloomberg reported.

Biden continued to appeal for Americans to take up the vaccine, saying that it's "the most patriotic thing" they could do. 

And while he said the country is "closer than ever" to declaring its independence from Covid-19, he cautioned Americans that the battle against the outbreak is yet to be over.

"We've got a lot more work to do," he said.

Top image via The Istana