New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Singapore on September 4-5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with a goal to play a bigger role in the region where China has major influence, stepping up engagement with Southeast Asia after hosting prime ministers of Vietnam and Malaysian PMs in the past one month.
The trip will involve a review of the progress in the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership, focusing on technology and investments, said people familiar with the matter. A partnership in semi-conductors is expected to be the next big item in the burgeoning ties, they said.
Modi will also meet Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and interact with key business leaders, exhorting them to invest in India. Singaporean sovereign wealth funds, Temasek and GIC, are planning to expand their portfolio here. Temasek is reportedly looking to invest $10 billion in India during the next three years.
In preparation for PM Modi’s visit, India Singapore Ministerial Dialogue was held on August 26, focusing on digital innovation, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and advanced manufacturing.
India-Singapore relations were elevated to strategic partnership during PM Modi’s visit to Singapore in 2015. In 2018, India and Singapore added new momentum and direction in the strategic partnership, anchored in Modi’s visit to Singapore from May 31-June 2, 2018, and his second visit on November 14-15 for attending the ASEAN-India, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and 13th East Asia Summit. Modi became the first Indian PM to deliver a keynote address at the annual Shangri La Dialogue on June 1, 2018.
In the November 2018 visit for ASEAN and East Asia Summits, he also became the first head of government to deliver the keynote address at the Singapore Fintech Festival, the world’s largest fintech event.
Singapore is India’s largest trade partner among ASEAN countries. It is a leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and among the largest sources for external commercial borrowings and foreign portfolio investment.
In 2023-24 Singapore was the largest source of FDI into India, with equity inflows of US $11.774 billion. Between April 2000 and March 2024, cumulative FDI flows from Singapore to India stood at $159.943 billion, accounting for 24 per cent of total FDI inflows into India. The top sectors attracting FDI equity inflows from Singapore are services, computer software and hardware, trading, telecommunications, and drugs and pharmaceuticals.
Bilateral trade expanded after the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, from $6.7 billion in 2004-05 to $35.6 billion in 2023-24. Singapore is India’s eighth largest trade partner. It is working with the central and state governments as well as government organisations to establish skill development centres in various sectors in India.
