Forging a closer relationship
India is upgrading its ties with Singapore and actively pursuing greater cooperation across trade, investment, business, and people-to-people exchanges
AS INDIA celebrated its 76th Republic Day on Sunday (Jan 26), it is looking ahead to building a more prosperous and secure future, and is doing so by forging closer bilateral ties with its partners, one of which is Singapore.
Both have been cooperating extensively across a wide range of areas, which have deepened and diversified throughout the years.
The relationship is set to grow even stronger as both countries agreed to upgrade their existing strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fifth official visit to Singapore last September.
Dr Shilpak Ambule, high commissioner of India to Singapore, said: “I believe we are important partners for each other with immense potential to expand our partnership. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of India-Singapore diplomatic relations this year, we are working on keeping the momentum to take the India-Singapore comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.”
He noted how trade and investment flows have gone up steadily, while education, cultural and people-to-people exchanges continue to flourish. Defence cooperation is also a key pillar of this bilateral cooperation, highlighted by the recent joint exercises of the army, navy and air force conducted in India.
The mark of a closer relationship was further highlighted by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s visit to New Delhi from Jan 14 to 18. He met with several Indian ministers, business leaders and academics and visited the state of Odisha after New Delhi. Agreements in skills development, industrial parks and the green economy were signed during the visit.
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Strategic agreements
The visit of Prime Minister Modi to Singapore was “highly productive” said Dr Ambule, as it further greased the wheels for India-Singapore cooperation.
Leaders discussed a wide range of subjects, including trade and investment, defence and security, fintech and digital economy, green corridors and sustainability, food security, advanced manufacturing, including semiconductors, connectivity, health and resilient supply chains. Both sides exchanged memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to cooperate more closely on advancing partnerships in the areas of semiconductors, digital technologies, education and health.
The MOU on India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership supports India as it aims to establish itself as a global node for semiconductor manufacturing, while offering inroads for Singapore’s semiconductor industry looking to participate in the growth of India’s industry.
The MOU on digital technologies aims to foster more interoperability between both countries’ digital economies.
“These agreements have opened up new avenues of cooperation and will make our bilateral cooperation future-oriented. We also held the inaugural rounds for the cyber policy and semiconductor partnership dialogue recently. It signifies our mutual commitment of implementing the outcomes of the prime minister’s visit,” said the high comissioner.
The second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable held last August further highlighted increased engagement between both parties.
Four Indian ministers travelled to Singapore and six Singaporean ministers participated in the discussion, a high level of participation that was unprecedented, he noted. Through these discussions, six key areas for bilateral cooperation were identified: digitalisation, skills development, sustainability, healthcare and medicine, advanced manufacturing, and connectivity. “These priorities form the agenda for our comprehensive strategic partnership. We hope to strengthen our collaboration with Singapore in these areas, where Singaporean businesses will find opportunities for more trade, more investments and more returns,” added Dr Ambule.
Growing key sectors
India is currently one of the five biggest economies in the world and is on track to become the third largest. Over the past 10 years, India has made big improvements in its economy and development.
Dr Ambule noted that this progress is expected to continue due to a stable government, consistent policies, business-friendly environment, and focus on reforms to improve the economy. These reasons make it an attractive option for countries such as Singapore that are looking to expand and diversify their supply chains.
“Singapore companies have made large investments in India and are reaping the benefits,” he said, highlighting companies such as Temasek, GIC and Singapore Airlines, and the successful real estate ventures of Mapletree and Keppel in India. DBS Bank and CapitaLand also celebrated the 30th anniversary of their India operations last year.
But there is potential to do much more, such as in the areas of fintech, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, industrial parks, connectivity, digitalisation, skills development and green economy.
India is working on expanding the scope of fintech connectivity as well. The link between its Unified Payments Interface and Singapore’s PayNow services launched in 2023 is one example.
In the sustainability sphere, both countries are collaborating on green ammonia projects and green shipping.
Sembcorp is setting up a state-of-the-art green ammonia plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu to produce green ammonia to export to Japan.
Emerging technologies present another promising area of cooperation. India’s booming aviation sector offers opportunities for Singapore companies in maintenance, repair and operations.
“We have announced our intention to build 12 new industrial smart cities,” said Dr Ambule. “With Singapore’s experience in urban development and industrial parks, we are keen to have Singaporean investments in our industrial smart city project.”
Semiconductor industry
Another area to be optimistic about is the semiconductor industry, where India is actively developing its domestic capabilities. The country is investing in the infrastructure needed for semiconductor manufacturing, spanning design, fabrication, and assembly, testing, marking, and packaging. Several global semiconductor giants have already begun investing in India.
“In the coming years, we hope to see a substantial rise in semiconductor output in India,” he said.
“Singaporean semiconductor companies looking to expand further will find India an attractive destination. Additionally, Singapore’s infrastructure firms can capitalise on business opportunities in this growing sector,” said Dr Ambule.
Universities in both countries can collaborate on designing training courses for the semiconductor industry as well, resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.
Several Indian states are keen to pursue economic ties with Singapore.
Delegations from the governments of Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa and Telangana visited Singapore to promote their states as tourism and investment destinations. “Singapore companies can leverage this enthusiasm among Indian states to expand their footprint in India,” he said.
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