India & S’pore must 'double down' on its ties, relationship based on 'concrete actions & outcomes': PM Wong

Singapore and India are looking to further strengthen their ties with a roadmap for a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister (PM) Lawrence Wong said on Sep. 3.

This will involve cooperation across a number of sectors, including economic, green energy and artificial intelligence (AI).

In a turbulent world, there is even more reason for India and Singapore to “double down” on their very critical relationship, he said.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times in New Delhi during his ongoing visit to India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A lot of progress made

When asked about the current state of cooperation between both countries, PM Wong said that the existing India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) has taken flight since its conception in 2022.

The ISMR is a series of multi-level meetings between ministers and business leaders of both countries, a brainchild of then-Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Wong, who led the first delegation in New Delhi.

In his interview, PM Wong described the meetings as filled with "very good discussions and very good ideas" that had the full support of Modi.

DPM Gan Kim Yong has since taken over the reigns of the ISMR and led its latest iteration in New Delhi on Aug. 13 and 14 this year.

Ambitious roadmap

PM Wong said that India and Singapore are looking to expand upon their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a concept launched during Modi's visit to Singapore in September last year.

"We will have a roadmap, an ambitious roadmap, setting out all the different areas of cooperation and how we want to pursue them further," he said when asked about discussion plans for his upcoming meeting with Modi.

He cited economic cooperation as one such example, including semiconductors and industrial parks, as well as in skills development and maritime, air and digital connectivity.

Both countries are looking to cooperate in areas of space technology, he added, which India has "tremendous strengths" in alongside Singapore's low-orbit satellites.

"There is a potential for us to do more together," he said.

Not just words and rhetoric

PM Wong noted that it had been a year, almost to the day, since Modi had visited Singapore, just as he had secured his third term in office.

He drew a comparison to his own visit, after his own general election, noting how the visits mirrored each other.

He reflected on the significant advancement in cooperation that had occurred in that one year, saying that it was what India-Singapore cooperation was based on.

“Not just on words and rhetoric, but also on concrete actions and outcomes.”

In this “very turbulent world” that both countries were in, the "bilateral relationship between our two countries has become more important than ever.

Visit to India

PM Wong is in India for a three-day visit from Sep. 2 to Sep. 4, the first time he has done so in the capacity of a PM.

He also met with business leaders from the CII Core Group, India's Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday (Sep. 3), exploring cooperation on all fronts.

He also met with overseas Singaporeans in India for an SG60 reception, he said in a Facebook post.

PM Wong will meet Modi today (Sep. 4), on the last leg of his India visit.

Top photo via MDDI