PM Wong to visit India at PM Modi's invitation, will meet overseas S'poreans to mark 60 years of diplomatic ties

Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong is making an official visit to India from Sep. 2 to Sep. 4, at the invitation of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This marks PM Wong's first official visit to the South Asian giant since taking over as Prime Minister in May 2024.

This year's visit comes in conjunction with two diamond jubilees, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Singapore-India diplomatic relations and Singapore's 60th birthday.

Who he's meeting

PM Wong will also call on India's President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi, as well as meet and be hosted at a lunch banquet by Modi.

He will also be called upon by a number of India's highest ranked officials, including Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Jagat Prakash Nadda, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

There will also be a closed-door roundtable between PM Wong and a group of Indian business leaders.

He will pay tribute to Indian revolutionary leader Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi, and also meet with overseas Singaporeans in the capital city at an SG60 reception.

Accompanying PM Wong will be Minister for Foreign Affairs (MFA) Vivian Balakrishnan, Acting Minister for Transport (MOT) and Senior Minister of State for Finance (MOF) Jeffrey Siow and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and for Trade and Industry (MTI) Gan Siow Huang.

They will be accompanied by officials from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), MFA, MTI, MOT and Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).

Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam will be Acting Prime Minister in PM Wong's absence.

This will be the second time Modi and PM Wong have met since PM Wong took office.

They last met during Modi's Singapore visit in September 2024, during which Modi memorably bear-hugged PM Wong during a photo-op session.

Global tensions

The meeting between both leaders comes against a backdrop of global geopolitical and trade tensions.

Singapore and India have both being hit by high U.S. tariffs in recent months.

India faces a 50 per cent rate, among the highest imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, as a punishment for their purchase of Russian oil and military equipment.

Singapore's tariff rate remains at 10 per cent.

Modi was notably in attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China yesterday (Sep. 1), mingling with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping among other world leaders in a significant show of seeming counter-U.S. sentiment.

All three leaders have had souring relationships with Trump in recent months, which has unexpectedly tightened ties between longtime rivals India and China.

Top image via Lawrence Wong/X