South Asia
India
Singapore's diplomatic relationships and recent highlights with India.
Overview
Singapore enjoys excellent, broad-based and multifaceted bilateral relations with India, underpinned by the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership (SP) signed in November 2015 during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Singapore. The SP was updated (FinTech and innovation was included as a key pillar) during Prime Minister Modi’s official visit to Singapore in May/June 2018. Our political leaders also enjoy good rapport and interact frequently. There are currently two Ministerial committees/dialogues – the Foreign Ministers’ Joint Ministerial Committee for Bilateral Cooperation and the India-Singapore Defence Ministers’ Dialogue.
India is an important economic partner for Singapore. Economic engagement is anchored by the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which came into effect in June 2005. In 2017, Singapore was India’s 5th largest trading partner worldwide, and the 3rd largest trading partner in ASEAN. Singapore was also India’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in FY2019/20.
Our two countries commemorated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2015 with President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s State Visit to India in February, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Singapore in November.
Recent highlights
2020
Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social and Economic Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam visited
2019
Senior Minister of State (Defence) (Foreign Affairs) Maliki Osman visited New Delhi in January to attend the 4th Raisina Dialogue.
Minister (Communications & Information) (Trade Relations) S Iswaran visited Vijayawada for the 4th Joint Implementation Steering Committee on the Amaravati Capital City Development Project in January.
Minister (Education) Ong Ye Kung visited New Delhi for the Growth Net Summit in June.
Minister (Communications & Information)(Trade Relations) S Iswaran visited New Delhi for the Singapore Symposium in June.
Minister (Home Affairs)(Law) K Shanmugam and Senior Minister of State (Health)(Law) Edwin Tong visited New Delhi and Mumbai in August for the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Investment Arbitration Conference, SIAC Annual Conference, and Singapore Symposium.
Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Housing and Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation, and Minister of State of Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri, and Andhra Pradesh Minister of Finance Buggana Rajendranath visited Singapore for the Hindustan Times-MintAsia Leadership Summit, Indian High Commission’s Business and Innovation Summit, and the Singapore-India Joint Ministerial Committee in September.
Minister (Education) Ong Ye Kung visited Chennai for the 2nd Singapore-India Joint Hackathon in September.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat, Minister (Social and Family Development) and Second Minister (National Development) Desmond Lee, and Minister of State (National Development)(Manpower) Zaqy Mohamad visited New Delhi for the World Economic Forum India Economic Summit in October.
Minister (Communications & Information)(Trade Relations) S Iswaran visited Bangalore to launch the expansion of the Global Innovation Alliance in India in October.
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy visited Singapore for The Economic Times Asian Business Leaders Conclave in November.
Indian Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh visited Singapore to co-chair the 4th Singapore-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in November.
2018
Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore in January.
Senior Minister of State (Defence)(Foreign Affairs) Dr Maliki Osman visited New Delhi for the 3rd Raisina Dialogue in January.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited New Delhi for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in January. Leaders of all ten ASEAN countries were invited as Chief Guests to India’s Republic Day.
Minister (Industry) S Iswaran visited Andhra Pradesh to attend the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit in February.
Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu attended the 4th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting and the RCEP-ASEAN Economic Ministers-India Consultations in March.
Minister (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang visited New Delhi for the Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering in March.
Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping Nitin Gadkari attended the Hindustan Times Mint Asia Leadership Summit in April.
Minister (Communications & Information)(Trade Relations) S Iswaran visited Mumbai for the Inaugural Maharashtra-Singapore Joint Committee with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in May.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore in May/June and delivered the keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Minister (Communications & Information)(Trade Relations) S Iswaran visited Vijayawada for the 3rd Joint Implementation Steering Committee on the Amaravati Capital City Development Project in June.
Minister (National Development) Lawrence Wong attended the Growth Net Summit in New Delhi in June.
Minister (Finance) Heng Swee Keat visited Mumbai and New Delhi in June. During the visit, he attended the AIIB Board of Governors’ Meeting.
Minister (Social and Family Development) and Second Minister (National Development) Desmond Lee visited Chennai and Vijayawada with an official and business delegation in June.
Minister (Foreign Affairs) Vivian Balakrishnan attended the 10th Delhi Dialogue in New Delhi in July.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu attended the World Cities Summit in Singapore in July.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and State Ministers from Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh visited Singapore for the Invest North Summit in September.
Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu visited Singapore to attend the 50th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ and Related Meetings in September.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore to attend the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in November, accompanied by Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu. Prime Minister Modi delivered the Keynote Address at the Singapore FinTech Festival during the visit.
Minister (Defence) Ng Eng Hen visited Visakhapatnam and Port Blair in November. During the visit, he co-chaired the 3rd India-Singapore Defence Ministers’ Dialogue with Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman.
Andhra Pradesh State Minister for Information Technology, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Nara Lokesh visited Singapore under the S R Nathan Fellowship Programme in December.