“India, Singapore are natural partners,” Singapore President says

President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam who is on a visit to India was accorded a ceremonial welcome on Thursday at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Shanmugaratnam inspected a guard of honour after which he met with various delegated. Speaking on the occasion he said that since Singapore’s independence in 1965, the relations between both countries has grown by bounds.

Shanmugaratnam said that both the countries are now on a new trajectory with the upgrade of our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last visit to Singapore in September last year.

“We will never forget that India was one of the first few countries to recognize Singapore’s independence in 1965. And since then our relationship has grown by bounds. It’s a natural partnership between a small country, Singapore and a very large country, India. But we found ways to cooperate in ways that are mutual interests in a whole range of areas. Our business relationships are thriving. In fact, Singapore has been the largest investor in India for many years now. Our defence relationship is strong. Our relationship in skilling has been very active in recent years and it continues to grow. But we are now on a new trajectory with India with the upgrade of our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership which was announced during Prime Minister Modi’s last visit to Singapore in September last year. We are exploring new initiatives going beyond the existing very active relationship that we have,” he said.

Shanmugaratnam added that the two countries are exploring initiatives in sustainability and digital space.

“We are also exploring other initiatives in the digital space and in sustainability. In the digital space, for instance, we are exploring the possibility of a data corridor between GIFT City and Singapore so that our financial institutions can exchange data on a safe and trusted basis. Sustainability is a major priority for both India and Singapore and there too, we’re working actively to look at corridor for renewable energy,” he said.

The Singapore President said that India and Singapore are natural partners as the leaders see eye to eye.

“I’m optimistic for our relations with India because our leaders see eye to eye. We are natural partners. Singapore is invested in India’s ambition to be a developed country, Viksit Bharat by 2047. The eastern states are a priority for the Indian government. In fact, on my last visit to India before I was President, I went to Assam at Prime Minister Modi’s suggestion and we are doing some things in Assam. In particular, we had a major involvement in skilling and we are looking at other possibilities,” he said.

He said that this time, he is going to Odisha, with a high ambition.

“This time as part of the state visit, I’m going to Odisha which has special significance amongst the Eastern states. I know that India has high ambition for Odisha and indeed it has great promise. The people are hungry, they’ve got natural advantages and their natural resources. In Singapore, we look at opportunities from logistics and connectivity to petrochemicals and other areas. Not to forget skilling, where we already have been deeply involved in the World Skill Center and are now embarked on expanding that relationship,” he said.

The President said that they are working on cooperating on semiconductors and net zero industrial parks.

“We are working on cooperating and advanced manufacturing and semiconductors helping to build up the semiconductor ecosystem in India. We’re working on new generation and net zero industrial parks and are working on the skilling for the new industries that are involved,” he said.

He added that they will also work on maintenance, repair and overhaul operations for the aerospace sector.

“So there will be many areas to explore, including even areas like MRO- maintenance, repair and overhaul operations for the aerospace sector which shows very significant opportunity. So I go with a business delegation with our eyes open to learn as much as we can and see where there can be fruitful opportunities for collaboration,” he said.