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PM visits Singapore
After Brunei Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Singapore. This was Prime Minister’s fifth visit to Singapore as Prime Minister, as all the four earlier visits were during his first term as Prime Minister.
Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, in a very special gesture, hosted a private dinner for Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. he was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House, followed by official talks, and they discussed and reviewed cooperation in a very wide range of subjects, including trade and investment, defense and security, FinTech and digital economy, green corridors and sustainability, food security, advanced manufacturing, including semiconductors, connectivity, health and resilient supply chains. Four MoUs were exchanged, and these were in cooperation in semiconductor ecosystem, in digital technologies, in skill development and education and in healthcare.
The next stage in bilateral relations in both countries has been set by the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable that met recently and which identified six pillars of our futuristic cooperation. And the above four MoUs address four of those six pillars. India and Singapore relations have been made future-ready, and accordingly, both Prime Ministers decided to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. To boost trade and investment, Prime Minister also announced the setting up of an Invest India office in Singapore, which will be a hand holding office for investors from Singapore in many diverse areas of interest identified in the six pillars above.
Terrorism as the primary threat to global peace
Both leaders condemned terrorism as the primary threat to global peace and stability. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and called for multilateral action through the United Nations, including the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. They also emphasized cooperation on anti-money laundering and terror financing under FATF guidelines. The two countries reaffirmed their cooperation in global forums like the UN, WTO, and IORA and highlighted the importance of an open and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
Prime Minister visits AEM
Prime Minister also visited AEM, which is a leading Singapore company in the semiconductor space and in electronics. There, he was briefed about AEM’s role in global semiconductor value chain, its operations and plans for India, and to develop India its own semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem and to match Singapore’s strengths in this area. There were a number of other senior company leaders who were present, as well as those involved in skilling and skill upgradation in this sector. At the facility, the two Prime Ministers also interacted with a group of interns, both from India and Singapore, who had undergone skill training as part of bilateral programs. The Indian interns were from the Odisha World Skill Center, and the Singaporean students were receiving skilling exposure in India under the India Ready Program. Prime Minister also invited the semiconductor related CEOs present today to the SEMICON India Exhibition and Conference, which is being held from 11th to 13th of September.
In terms of people-to-people contact, both sides discussed, things like increasing the number of flight connections between the two countries. And also, the Prime Minister announced that the first ever Thiruvalluvar Center in the world will be set up in Singapore.