The second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable was held on Monday in Singapore, where leaders from both countries discussed and emphasised ways of further enhancing cooperation in emerging and futuristic areas. The Ministry of Finance said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that both sides deliberated upon six pillars identified under the Roundtable, which include digitalisation, skill development, sustainability, healthcare and medicine, and advanced manufacturing and connectivity.
The leaders also discussed plans for commemorating the 60th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore, alongside regional and global cooperation, including Asean and G20 developments. The leaders noted that the discussions in the 1st round of the Roundtable have resulted in the successful conclusion of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) on healthcare, education and skill development, digital cooperation, and semiconductor ecosystem cooperation.
From India, the Finance Minister participated in the second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The delegation from Singapore was led by Gan Kim Yong, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, along with Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugan, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat and Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo.
During their visit, the Indian ministers interacted with their counterparts and also called on Singaporean leadership. India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India-Singapore bilateral relations. Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022. This meeting will enable both sides to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it.
Singapore has been a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India. In the year 2023-24, Singapore was the largest source of FDI for India, with an estimated USD 11.77 billion in inflows. The cumulative inflow of FDI from Singapore from April 2000 to March 2024 is around USD 159.94 billion. In bilateral trade, Singapore was the sixth largest global trade partner of India in 2023-24 with a total trade of USD 35.61 billion which accounts for approximately 29 per cent of India's total trade with ASEAN. (ANI)
