President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have congratulated their Indian counterparts on the occasion of India's 75th Republic Day, on Jan 26.

Letter to the president

Tharman wrote to his counterpart Droupadi Murmu, President of India, extending his warmest congratulations to her and the people of India on behalf of the people of Singapore.

Singapore and India's long and warm partnership, he said, was underpinned by close people-to-people ties and strong cooperation in multiple fields, such as fintech, sustainability, and digitalisation.

Singapore and India had collaborated well in regional and multilateral forums, and Tharman congratulated India's successful conclusion of the G20 presidency.

He noted that PM Lee and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, as well as several other Singaporean ministers, had attended various G20 meetings during India’s presidency of the G20.

Singapore is not a G20 member state, but has been invited to participate in proceedings by G20 presidents, including India for 2023, and Brazil for 2024.

Tharman also brought up the inaugural Asean-India Maritime Exercise held in may 2023.

The exercise reflected deeper engagement for both countries under the Asean-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was upgraded in 2022.

Prime minister's letter

PM Lee wrote to his counterpart Narendra Modi, saying that Singapore and India enjoyed a deep and long-standing friendship.

That friendship is underpinned by wide ranging cooperation and trade, finance, defence and close people-to-people ties.

Through the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, the two countries were enhancing cooperation in areas such as food security, sustainability, upskilling, and digitisation.

PM Lee provided an example, saying that the PayNow-Unified Payments Interface linkage that was jointly launched in February 2023 has seen a “steady uptake of users”, making cross-border transactions safer and faster for businesses and individuals.

PM Lee also congratulated India on the successful conclusion of the G20 New Delhi summit with a consensus Leader's Decoration, noting his visit to India and meeting with Modi during the summit.

PM Lee welcomed India's deep engagement of the Southeast Asia region, saying Singapore and India have cooperated well in Asean.

As country coordinator for Asean-India relations, PM Lee said that Singapore will maintain the momentum following the upgrade of Asean-India relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.

Republic Day

Republic Day celebrates India's independence from Britain in 1949, and is usually marked by a large parade and ceremonies.

Narendra Modi celebrated India's Republic Day at the ceremony in New Delhi on Jan. 26.

At the spectacular Republic Day celebrations. Do watch, as India’s military prowess and cultural diversity are showcased during the parade. https://t.co/uERuG4uk5X

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 26, 2024

Modi is facing elections later in the year, and is seeking a third term in office, as he approaches the 10-year mark of his tenure.

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Top image via Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India/Facebook & Lee Hsien Loong/ Facebook