Congratulatory Message from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Occasion of India's 75th Republic Day

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have written to Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to convey their congratulations on the occasion of India’s 75^th Republic Day on 26 January 2024. The text of the letters are appended.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
26 JANUARY 2024

26 January 2024

Her Excellency Droupadi Murmu
President
Republic of India

Your Excellency,

          On behalf of the people of Singapore, I extend my warmest congratulations to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of India on the auspicious occasion of India’s 75^th Republic Day.

         Singapore and India share a long and warm partnership, underpinned by close people to people ties and strong cooperation in a multitude of fields. I fondly recall my last visits to India in 2022 and 2023 in my previous capacity as Senior Minister. Singapore and India are also enhancing collaboration in new areas like FinTech, sustainability, and digitalisation. The India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable is a key platform to drive this enhanced cooperation.

Our countries collaborate well in regional and multilateral fora. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the successful conclusion of India’s G20 Presidency. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and several Singapore ministers attended the various G20 meetings in India. As Country Coordinator for ASEAN-India dialogue relations, Singapore also co-hosted the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise with India in May 2023. This reflected the deeper engagement both sides have enjoyed under the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which was upgraded in 2022.

I look forward to continuing to work with you to further strengthen ties between our two countries.

I wish you and the people of India peace, good health, and continued success.

Yours sincerely,

THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM

26 January 2024

Dear Prime Minister Modi,

         Please accept my warmest congratulations on the happy occasion of India’s 75th Republic Day.

         Singapore and India enjoy a deep and longstanding friendship, underpinned by wide-ranging cooperation in trade, finance, defence, and close people-to-people ties. Through the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, we are also exploring collaboration in new areas like food security, sustainability, upskilling, and digitalisation. You will be pleased to know that the PayNow-Unified Payments Interface linkage that we jointly launched in February 2023 has seen a steady uptake of users. This has made cross-border transactions safer and faster for businesses and individuals on both sides.

         I was glad to visit India to meet you and to attend the G20 Summit in September 2023. Under your leadership, India skilfully navigated a multitude of contentious issues to successfully conclude the G20 New Delhi Summit with a consensus Leaders Declaration.

         Singapore and India have also cooperated well in ASEAN. Singapore welcomes India’s deepened engagement of the region. Our two countries co-hosted the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise in 2023 and adopted joint statements on maritime cooperation and food security at the ASEAN-India Summit in 2023. As country coordinator for ASEAN-India relations, Singapore will maintain the momentum in ASEAN-India relations following its upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.

         I look forward to continuing to work with you to further deepen and strengthen Singapore-India relations.

         I wish you good health, happiness, and every success.

Yours sincerely,
LEE HSIEN LOONG

His Excellency Narendra Modi
Prime Minister
Republic of India