Official Visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, His Excellency Narendra Modi, 4 to 5 September 2024

Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi received a ceremonial welcome at the Parliament House today. He called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and met Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong. Prime Minister Wong and Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong separately hosted Prime Minister Modi to meals during his visit. Prime Minister Modi also met Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

  President Tharman and Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed the longstanding friendship between Singapore and India. They discussed India’s potential as a leading centre of growth over the next decade, driven by both social and digital investments across the wide span of its population, as well as its new economic linkages. They also discussed the potential for India and ASEAN to complement each other’s growth and build stronger supply chain linkages. They looked forward to celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and India in 2025, which is a significant milestone.

  Prime Minister Wong and Prime Minister Modi exchanged views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments. The Prime Ministers welcomed the good progress in bilateral cooperation in a multitude of forward-looking areas, including sustainability, digital technologies, advanced manufacturing, and connectivity. They underscored the role of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, which was recently held in Singapore on 26 August 2024, as a key platform to lead and enhance cooperation. The Prime Ministers agreed to elevate the Singapore-India Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to reflect the commitment of both sides to further deepen and broaden the bilateral relationship.

The Prime Ministers discussed potential collaboration in new and innovative areas, including cross border electricity trade and green ammonia supply chains, a joint flagship programme for skills training, enhancing cross-border data flows via the Gujarat International Finance and Tec-City (GIFT City), and cooperation in developing industrial parks in India. Following their meeting, the Prime Ministers issued a Joint Statement on the key outcomes. The full text of the Joint Statement is at Annex A. 

Prime Minister Wong and Prime Minister Modi witnessed the exchange of four government-to-government Memorandums of Understanding in the areas of digital cooperation, education and skills development,  health and medicine, and semiconductor ecosystem cooperation.  These MOUs reflect the comprehensive and future-oriented nature of Singapore’s cooperation with India and will add depth and breadth to the bilateral relationship. The list of agreements is at Annex B. 

Senior Minister Lee and Prime Minister Modi welcomed the strong bilateral cooperation, including on skilling workers, and discussed regional and international developments. Emeritus Senior Minister Goh and Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed the close friendship and historical ties between Singapore and India at their meeting. They discussed ways to build on this strong foundation to strengthen people-to-people ties and exchanges. They also discussed how India could power the next wave of Asian growth.

Prime Minister Modi will depart Singapore tonight.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

5 SEPTEMBER 2024

Annex A: India-Singapore Joint Statement during visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore (September 04-05, 2024)

Annex B: List of Agreements

Annex A

India-Singapore Joint Statement during visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore

(September 04-05, 2024)

At the invitation of His Excellency Mr Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, paid an Official Visit to Singapore on 04-05 September 2024. The current visit is the fifth visit of Prime Minister Modi to Singapore.

2 As part of his visit, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome and had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Wong. Prime Minister Modi called on President of the Republic of Singapore His Excellency Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Prime Minister Modi also met Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, and Emeritus Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong. Both Prime Ministers visited AEM, a leading Singaporean company in semiconductor and electronics sector. Prime Minister Modi had an interaction with CEOs of leading Singaporean companies.

3 Prime Minister Wong congratulated Prime Minister Modi on winning a historic third term and expressed his belief that India would continue on its upward trajectory of development and have an increasingly greater role and position in the international arena under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Prime Minister Wong for assuming office as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore and expressed his belief that, under his exceptional stewardship, Singapore will continue to move forward and remain a model of economic development for others.

4 Both Prime Ministers acknowledged India and Singapore’s shared history, 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, which has developed into an all-round cooperation, including in the areas of political, economic, security, technology, education, people to people and cultural links. India and Singapore will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year. Against this backdrop, both Prime Ministers agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level of a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’, to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation.

5 Both Prime Ministers welcomed the second meeting of India – Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) held last month in Singapore. They noted that the ISMR has contributed to fostering an open dialogue to set a new agenda for the India – Singapore partnership. They commended the work done by the Ministers in identifying the six pillars for bilateral cooperation and progress made and ambitions set under these pillars.

(i) Sustainability:

• Both Prime Ministers underscored the potential of increasing cooperation in the areas of Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia. They welcomed the collaboration between Indian and Singaporean companies in this area.

• Both Prime Ministers tasked their teams to work towards a mutually beneficial cooperation framework pursuant to Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement between both governments.

• Prime Minister Wong appreciated India’s decision of granting exemption for the export of non-Basmati white rice to Singapore. Prime Minister Modi assured India’s support to Singapore’s efforts to strengthen food security.

• Prime Minister Modi appreciated Singapore’s participation in the International Solar Alliance and Global Biofuels Alliance, initiatives launched by India.  Both Prime Ministers agreed that India and Singapore can work together to further promote sustainable development. 

(ii) Digitalization

• Both Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the MoU on cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies and affirmed common interests in data, AI and cybersecurity. Building on this, both Prime Ministers agreed to deepen collaboration in the digital space, including in facilitating trusted cross-border data flows, cybersecurity, and the interoperability of digital systems. Both sides have initiated discussions towards the establishment of a bilateral Cyber Policy Dialogue and look forward to the conclusion of the renewed MOU on Cybersecurity Cooperation between the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team and India’s Computer Emergency Response Team.

• Both Prime Ministers commended the success of UPI-PayNow Linkage and other digital collaboration initiatives such as ONDC - Proxtera Connectivity, and Trade Trust (an initiative to enable Singapore and Indian Banks and their respective clients to use interoperable electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs) in their Letter of Credit transactions).

• Both Prime Ministers noted the success of the first live interoperable transaction using the TradeTrust framework, for a shipment between Singapore and Indian businesses. Globally, this was the first shipment to undergo a fully paperless transaction process involving traders, carriers, and banks, resulting in costs savings for companies and enhance access to trade financing. Moving forward, Singapore and India will explore bringing in more companies to adopt TradeTrust for similar live transactions.

• Both Prime Ministers agreed to explore cooperation in the area of critical and emerging technologies.

(iii) Skills development:

• Both Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the MoU on cooperation in the field of Educational Cooperation and Skills Development, and to explore further collaboration in skills certification.

• Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed the progress in skills development cooperation with the establishment of five skill centers in India, where Singaporean institutions provided consultancy services and undertook turn-key projects.

• Both Prime Ministers commended initiatives for bringing Indian interns to Singapore under the ITE Education Services’ Singapore Internship Programme with Odisha’s World Skill Center and Singaporean interns under the CII-Enterprise Singapore India Ready Talent Programme.

(iv) Healthcare & Medicine:

• Both Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the MoU on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine.

• Both Prime Ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in healthcare, medical education, research, and human resource development in both countries.

• Both Prime Ministers acknowledged the potential in human resource development in the health sector.

• Both Prime Ministers called for an early conclusion of the proposed MoU on Nursing Talent Skills Corporation between the Government of Assam and Singapore India Partnership Office and MOH Holdings Pte Ltd of the Government of Singapore.

(v) Advanced Manufacturing:

• Both Prime Ministers agreed that advanced manufacturing, particularly in developing resilient semiconductor supply chains, can be a new pillar of bilateral cooperation.

• Both Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the MoU on India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership.

(vi) Connectivity:

• Both Prime Ministers noted the potential to enhance cooperation in the maritime and aviation sectors between India and Singapore, including areas such as green shipping and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO).

• Both Prime Ministers welcomed investment from Singapore in the Indian Civil Aviation Sector and expressed their hope that this will lead to improved connectivity between the two countries.

• Both Prime Ministers recognized the growth in travel demand between the two countries, and encouraged the civil aviation authorities of both countries to discuss expanding the bilateral Air Services Agreement to enhance air connectivity.

6 Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of trade, investments, defence cooperation, culture and people to people exchanges in overall bilateral cooperation.

7 Both Prime Ministers welcomed the regular high-level visits and consultations between India and Singapore. Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Wong and Senior Minister Lee for Singapore’s support for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023 and participation of several Ministers, officials and other dignitaries from Singapore in G20 meetings in India, including the visit of the then Prime Minister Lee to India for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Delhi. Prime Minister Wong congratulated Prime Minister Modi for the success of India’s G20 Presidency.

8 Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the deep and longstanding defence relationship between the two nations which is built on close historical ties, shared strategic perspectives and common interests. Noting the high level of exchanges and bilateral exercises by the three services (Army Exercise Agni Warrior, Navy Exercise SIMBEX & SITMEX and Air Force Exercise JMT), they commended the Armed Forces for maintaining a high level of professional exchanges through regular interactions. Prime Minister Modi appreciated Singapore’s support, as the country coordinator for India-ASEAN dialogue partner relations from 2021-2024, for co-hosting the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise which allowed India to collaborate with the ASEAN Member States in addressing common maritime security challenges in the region. He also expressed his firm belief in the need to further strengthen such cooperation which enables both sides to address common challenges in contemporary and niche domains and help reap benefits from collective wisdom, in the true spirit of cooperation. Prime Minister Wong expressed his deep appreciation of India’s consistent support for the Singapore Armed Forces' training in India which has elevated in both scope and scale in all domains, and welcomed India's active participation in the regional security architecture, particularly through the ADMM-Plus mechanism.

9 Both Prime Ministers recognized that bilateral business and commercial linkages constitute key drivers of the wide-ranging India-Singapore partnership. Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed the significance of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) signed in 2005, and reviewed in 2007 and 2018, for the economic partnership between the two countries. They desired an early conclusion of the Third Review of CECA, which will ensure the agreement remains fit for the future economies of India and Singapore. They also affirmed the importance of the review of the ASEAN- India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more user-friendly, simple and trade facilitative for business, with the aim to achieve substantial conclusion in 2025. Both Prime Ministers agreed that India offers immense investment opportunities for Singaporean investors. Both Prime Ministers also acknowledged the collaborations between Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and various states in India on smart cities and urban infrastructure including housing. These include workshops in sustainability and urban water management with India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban and Affairs. Both Prime Ministers also welcomed the signing of the MOU between SCE and the state of Assam on urban planning and management for the city of Guwahati. The Prime Ministers also recognized the progress in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) Connect, which is the first of its kind trading linkage between Singapore’s and India’s capital markets established by the Singapore Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

10 Both Prime Ministers noted the signing of the MoU on cooperation in the sphere of law and dispute resolution in March 2024. They agreed to work together to promote the exchange of people, expertise and information, as well as facilitate, hold and organize events and courses on international commercial dispute resolution, promotion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and other areas of mutual interests. 

11 Both Prime Ministers noted that relevant agencies of the two countries are already working on cooperation in areas of Science and Technology. Prime Minister Modi appreciated Singapore’s support for hosting the inaugural ASEAN - India Women Scientists Conclave in Singapore in April 2024. Both Prime Ministers were also appreciative of the ‘India-Singapore e-Workshop: Advancements in Digital Health and Medical Technologies’, held in July 2024, which initiated dialogue between India and Singapore under the MoU on Science & Technology Cooperation. The Prime Ministers also noted the successful award of the first joint call for India-Singapore Collaborative Industrial Research and Development Programme in August 2024 and look forward to such continuous collaborations in the coming years.

12 Both Prime Ministers agreed to further intensify the strong human, spiritual and cultural linkages between India and Singapore. Prime Minister Modi expressed deep appreciation for Singapore’s harmonious multicultural society that has supported and provided opportunities for all communities, including the Indian community, to be part of the Singaporean society.

13 Both Prime Ministers expressed convergence of views on various regional and international issues, including the regional security dynamics. Both sides reiterated their desire and determination to work together to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in the region and beyond.

14 Underlining the link between prosperity and security, the leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, while pursuing the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), without resorting to the threat or use of force. Both sides also called on all parties to resolve disputes through peaceful means without threat or use of force and exercise self-restraint in the conduct of actions that could escalate tensions in the region. Both leaders emphasized the legal framework set out by the UNCLOS within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and that UNCLOS is the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones. Both leaders expressed hope for the early conclusion of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS, that does not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations including those not party to these negotiations.

15 Both Prime Ministers recognized that terrorism continues to remain the single most significant threat to peace and stability and reiterated their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stressed that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. They affirmed their resolve to fight against global terrorism and terror organizations. They called for reinvigorating multilateral action on terrorism, including through reiterating the importance of the conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations at the earliest. Both Prime ministers emphasized the importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, consistent with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. Both countries reiterated their commitment to work together in FATF and other multilateral platforms.

16 Both Prime Ministers lauded the cooperation between both sides at regional and international fora and reaffirmed efforts to strengthen cooperation particularly in the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Commonwealth, and related forums and as well as other regional cooperation mechanisms.

17 Prime Minister Wong reaffirmed Singapore’s continuing support for India as a permanent member in a reformed United Nations Security Council. Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Wong for extending support for India’s candidature as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2028-29 term.

18 Both Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to work together to promote peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region. They underlined the importance of an open, inclusive, rules-based and resilient Indo-Pacific region, which promotes free trade and open markets and where differences are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. They acknowledged India and Singapore’s close cooperation on, and support for, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

19 Both Prime Ministers agreed on the importance of ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture for regional peace, stability and prosperity. They supported further strengthening the ASEAN - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which complements India’s bilateral relations with individual Member States. They appreciated the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region which provides opportunities for further cooperation between the AOIP and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Prime Minister Modi appreciated the valuable contribution of Singapore as the ASEAN Country Coordinator for India for the period 2021-24.

20 Both sides also welcomed the Quad’s support for ASEAN centrality, including the Quad’s agenda to support priorities and needs of countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and explored synergies for mutually beneficial cooperation.

21 Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Wong for the warmth of his hospitality and all the excellent arrangements made for the visit. Prime Minister Modi conveyed that India is looking forward to the visit of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to India next year. Prime Minister Modi also invited Prime Minister Wong to visit India at a mutually convenient time.

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Annex B

Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Digital Technologies

Memorandum of Understanding on Educational Cooperation and Skills Development

Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Health and Medicine

Memorandum of Understanding on India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership