• Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in  New Delhi on September 2 on a three-day visit, his first to India as the PM.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Wong held wide-ranging discussions. 

• Thereafter, the leaders witnessed the exchange of various MoUs. 

• The year 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

• India’s ties with Singapore are considered significant as the city-state is the largest foreign investor in India, accounting for around a quarter of the country’s foreign direct investment inflows.

Highlights of the meeting:

• Both PMs acknowledged India and Singapore’s long tradition of friendship based on trust and mutual respect, and extensive cooperation across a wide range of areas.

• They reviewed and expressed satisfaction over the progress in the bilateral relationship, including through the recent high-level engagements. 

• The ties have developed into an all-round cooperation, including in the areas of political, economic, security, technology, education, people-to-people and cultural links.

• Both leaders recalled the agreement to elevate bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), during PM Modi’s official visit to Singapore in September 2024. 

• Building on this, they agreed to adopt a forward-looking and substantive roadmap for the CSP that would set the vision and direction for the next phase of bilateral relations, and deepen cooperation in eight areas: 

i) Economic Cooperation

ii) Skills Development

iii) Digitalisation

iv) Sustainability

v) Connectivity

vi) Healthcare and Medicine

vii) People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges

viii) Defence and Security Cooperation.

• They agreed to work closely to boost bilateral ties in areas of advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, artificial intelligence, green shipping, skilling, civil nuclear energy, aviation and defence and security including possible cooperation in developing unmanned vessels.

• The two sides signed five agreements that will provide for cooperation in areas of aviation, skill development, green and digital shipping, space and digital asset innovation including to develop next generation financial infrastructure.

• The two sides agreed to jointly develop sustainable industrial parks and next-generation industrial parks with advanced manufacturing capabilities, including through facilitating ventures and partnerships.

• Both PMs virtually inaugurated the second phase of the PSA-operated Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai. The Port of Singapore Authority (PSA International) has invested over $1 billion in the project.

Additional Read:

India-Singapore Bilateral Relations

The close ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links across a millennium. India was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore in 1965.