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NEW DELHI – Business links between Singapore and India are thriving and the “natural partnership” between both countries is on a new trajectory, said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Newer areas of collaboration include advanced manufacturing and work in the digital and sustainability spaces.
“We are exploring new initiatives going beyond the existing, very active relationship that we have,” said Mr Tharman, who addressed the India and Singapore media after a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Jan 16.
Mr Tharman, who is in India for five days to mark 60 years of Singapore-India relations, was welcomed by Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other dignitaries.
Both countries had agreed to elevate ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Mr Modi’s visit to the Republic in September 2024. This would deepen existing areas of cooperation and enable new ones.
“I’m optimistic for our relations with India because our leaders see eye to eye… We are natural partners,” Mr Tharman said.
He added that Singapore is invested in India’s Viksit Bharat @ 2047, a roadmap which seeks to ensure India emerges as a “developed nation” by 2047, 100 years after its independence.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in a bilateral meeting with Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Jan 16.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Singapore is helping to build up India’s semiconductor ecosystem and working on new generation and net-zero emission industrial parks, as well as skills training for new industries involved.
He said Singapore and India are exploring the possibility of a data corridor between the Republic and Gujarat’s financial hub Gift City, “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 a corridor for renewable energy,” he added.
Following his visit to New Delhi, Mr Tharman and a delegation from Singapore – including Singaporean business leaders – will visit the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Jan 17 and 18 to explore business and economic opportunities in the state.
“I know that India has high ambition for Odisha, and indeed it has great promise,” he said, adding that the delegation will be “going in with their eyes open” to learn as much as they can, and look for opportunities for collaboration.
“The people are hungry… They’ve got natural advantages and their natural resources, and Singapore will look at opportunities from logistics and connectivity to petrochemicals and other areas.”
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in a bilateral meeting with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Jan 16. Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat was also present.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
On Jan 16, Mr Tharman also visited the Raj Ghat memorial to lay a wreath in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
He met a slate of ministers, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
In the evening, he will meet Prime Minister Modi and President Murmu, who is also hosting him to a state banquet.
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