Transcript of Keynote Address By Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Opening Plenary, Sunday, 7 January 2018, Marina Bay Sands

Minister Sushma Swaraj,

Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal,

Tun Datuk Samy Vellu

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Vanakkam, Namaste, and a warm welcome to Singapore.

It’s a special honour for me to be here today to join you at the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. It has been a decade since Singapore last hosted this event, and we are honoured to be the host city again, especially this year when we are ASEAN Chair – I think it’s all the more auspicious.

I would like to warmly congratulate Minister Sushma Swaraj for the resounding success of this event. I think you know that yesterday we ran out of seats, and today it is going to be a very hectic schedule. I hope all of you will have a fulfilling time here, for those of you who are visiting Singapore, as well as for Singaporeans, who have the chance to renew old ties and to build new opportunities.

The theme ‘Ancient Route, New Journey’ is very apt. We remember the links that have bound us not just over centuries, but over millennia. We should also look forward to new opportunities to do even more – not just at the bilateral level, but at the regional and global level.

The Indian diaspora has travelled across ‘Ancient Routes’ to reach our region, and it is equally important for us to remember that there are ‘New Journeys’ ahead of us.  

As a person whose ancestors and great-grandparents left India more than a century ago, it’s a very personal reminder that this is an ancient route that they took. But in a poignant way, I always remember that I would not be standing here before you, and I would not have had the privilege to travel to India, if they had not made the fateful decision to take this journey.

Ancient Route: The Contributions of the Diaspora

The point I am making is that whether you look at it at a personal or national level, this route has connected India to our part of the world since ancient times.

Records document that Indian contact with our part of the world goes as far back as the early 4th century BC. Archaeologists have discovered artefacts such as glass beads and semi-precious stones from Southern India on the Malay Peninsula and in our part of the world. Clearly, trade and commerce is not something new, but has been around for thousands of years.

And early Indian traders established links with Southeast Asia, they also brought with them religion, culture, ideas of governance, and political systems. All this has become woven into the tapestry of our region.

If you go back to the 13th century, Singapore was part of the Majapahit Empire. The Majapahit Empire was one of the Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Even the old names of Singapore, “Temasek”, or in fact, “Singapura” itself, have Sanskrit roots. We are another ‘pur’, just like Jaipur, or Nagpur – there are many ‘purs’. This is just another reminder of the ancient journey.

The legacy of Ancient Hindu-Buddhist influences is evident in the traditions and landscape of our region. Look no further than Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the Hindu Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta, the Buddhist temple in Borobudur, or ancient Hindu-Buddhist candis in Kedah, Malaysia which date back to the 2nd century BC.

The Indian community has always been an important strand in the rich tapestry of our multi-racial, multi-religious society in Singapore and indeed across Southeast Asia.

In Singapore’s early history, sepoys, merchants, labourers and administrators arrived on our shores during the colonial period of the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of them stayed to help build a new nation, and played pioneering roles in our social, economic and political development.

Early Indian migrants constructed landmarks and national icons in Singapore, such as the Istana, the Commercial Square (which is today known as Raffles Place) and Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple. These are just some examples. We may not remember their names or the identities of the individuals from India who built all this, but their legacy is all around us.

We also remember outstanding individuals such as the late President SR Nathan who dedicated his entire life to public eservice. Our founding Foreign Minister was Mr S Rajaratnam who penned our National Pledge, which enshrines the visionary commitment that in Singapore, we will be “one united people, regardless of race, language, or religion.”

But regardless of whether one was prominent or lesser known, all of us and our ancestors chose to make Singapore home, and help to shape the unique Singaporean identity into what it is today – a unique blend of Chinese, Indian, Malay and many other eclectic influences that form our diverse ethnic heritage.

But I am sure the stories of the Indian Diaspora’s contributions to Singapore are not unique to only Singapore.

There are around 6.1 million members of the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia, all of whom, I’m confident to say, have contributed positively to the strong ASEAN-India relations that we enjoy today. Today’s event is an opportunity to celebrate the important contributions the Indian diaspora has made to this region, and gives us the opportunity to continue to chart this ‘New Journey’ together, in keeping our economies integrated, forward-looking and innovative.

New Journey: Charting the future of ASEAN-India

Singapore and India have come a long way today, from the time we first became independent. In the case of Singapore, just 53 years ago. In the case of India, just over 70 years ago. In 2017, we marked the 25th anniversary of our relations, and this year, Singapore assumed the ASEAN Chairmanship. The theme for our chairmanship will be “Resilient and Innovative”.

As we look forward to the next chapter, it is important for ASEAN and India to continue to reinforce this message of building connections with each other.

We live in a time of uncertainty and volatility. Over the past 70 years, despite the fact of conflicts and wars, there was an emerging consensus that we needed a rules-based global order. But the assumptions on which the last 70 years of this global order were constructed – liberal economics, global integration – are today being questioned. Globalisation has become an easy target for populist politicians who want to stoke anger and jealousy. Even the consensus in favour of free trade and economic integration has also frayed.

This is a time where we need to take stock of what is happening and why the world is so anxious. What are the new opportunities and what are the changes we need to make?

India and ASEAN can benefit greatly from greater economic integration and greater openness, especially with our economies and our people. We need to build more bridges, not walls between us.

ASEAN is poised for strong growth, driven by increasing consumption by an emerging middle class, and the fact that the ASEAN population of 628 million is a young population and one that is destined to grow. With increasing urbanisation, that will create many opportunities for infrastructure investments.

Southeast Asia and India represent one quarter of the world’s population, and a combined GDP of more than US$4.5 trillion.

The Indian consumer market is expected to become the fifth largest in the world by 2025. And incidentally by 2025, India would be the most populous county in the world, with a population exceeding that of China.

Similarly, the number of middle-class households in Southeast Asia will double between now and 2025. By 2030, ASEAN will be the fourth-largest single market in the world.

Yet today, India only accounts for 2.6 per cent of ASEAN’s total trade, and only 3 per cent of the tourist arrivals to the ASEAN region.

I cite these figures not to discourage us, but to make the point there is huge potential for growth in trade, tourism, and many other fields. We need to draw on each other’s strengths; we need to take advantage of our cultural and civilisational heritage and build on this to grow our ties.

I would like to highlight some possible paths forward for this “New Journey”.

First, we need to press on with economic integration. This is not just a mantra, but crucial for the mutual prosperity of the citizens of India and ASEAN.

Singapore is therefore working with all partners towards unlocking this potential through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP offers us a historic opportunity to establish the world’s largest trade bloc. It will pave the way for our businesses to harness the region’s true potential. And for India, which will soon be the largest country in the world in terms of population, the largest source of middle class growth in the next 20 years, and because India remains young in next two to three decades, this is a historic opportunity for India.

If we add India to ASEAN, and the countries of Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea (ROK), this group potentially covers almost half the world’s population, a third of global GDP; and 40 per cent of global trade flows. These are historically unprecedented opportunities.

Second, we need to enhance connectivity.

We are fortunate that it is much easier to access our region in 2018, compared to the ‘Ancient Routes’ that our ancestors had to take, to get on board a boat and brave the dangerous journey to reach our shores.  

One of the more immediate ways to enhance connectivity is to expand air links, to have more flights and more affordable air tickets that will facilitate the movement of businessmen, tourists, and students. This will enhance people-to-people ties between ASEAN and India.

While we have traditionally promoted physical connectivity – for example, in terms of roads, railways, shipping and aviation – today there is a new road: digital connectivity. India has been a leading example of a country that has been able to leapfrog old hurdles and take advantage of opportunities in the digital space.

For instance, the implementation of Aadhaar was a phenomenal moment, and a mammoth task for a country as large as India. And the fact that India could do it speaks volumes about its ambitions and possibilities in the decades to come.

The digital space opens up many possibilities to transcend borders, cultures, societies and to level the playing field, to open opportunities for everyone, not just the people at the top, but for everyone across all bands of society.  

We should seize this opportunity to digitally connect ASEAN and India in areas including FinTech, e-payments and others.

Singapore stands ready to partner India in areas of innovation, and to serve as a catalyst for this in our region.

Third, we will work on linking cities into a Smart City network between ASEAN and India. We will exchange best practices in terms of technology, urban governance, and sustainable development. We will share, learn, and network among our smart cities. We believe this will drive economic growth and provide many opportunities for our young people in ASEAN and in India.

My Prime Minister proposed last November that one of the initiatives that we will focus on during Singapore’s 2018 ASEAN Chairmanship is the natural synergies between an ASEAN Smart Cities Network and India’s goal of 100 Smart Cities. In fact considering India’s side, 100 smart cities is only the beginning. There will be thousands of smart cities across India ultimately.  

India is also poised to face massive urban challenges, because we expect that by 2050, some 60 per cent of its pouplation will live in cities. In the case of ASEAN, we surpassed the 50 per cent mark in 2012. This ongoing urbanisation, this need for infrastructure and investments will provide huge opportunities for our businesses and our people in the decade to come.

The point is, we have a lot to gain from cooperation.

Singapore was honoured to be invited by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to partner in the development of the “People’s Capital” of Amaravati to establish a highly liveable and sustainable city with excellent infrastructure, services, and high standards of governance.

To conclude, let me make a few points from my heart:

India is an ancient civilisation that is thousands of years old. India has been a fount of inspiration, culturally, and in religious, social and political aspects, for thousands of years. India has always had an impact on Southeast Asia, which has always been an area of confluence for both India and China.

That’s if we look at it in terms of thousands of years. However if we look at history over centuries, India became colonised from the 17th century onwards, it’s worth asking yourself, how did an ancient civilisation end up being colonised?

My hypothesis is that India and Southeast Asia became colonised because we missed the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution began in England and Europe, and that gave them enormous power, which they were able to project across the seas. It took the Indian Independence movement 90 years to achieve Independence, which they declared on 15 August 1947. After that, we have lived in 70 years of relative peace, because we had one superpower that underwrote the global world order as we knew it. We all know that times are changing again and the global geostrategic balance of power is fundamentally shifting.

So, two points there – technological revolution and a change in the global order.

The choice that is confronting the world today as we undergo a twin revolution of technology and change in the geostrategic balance is what vision will underpin the future world.

Will it be a world with a zero sum game where might is right, big swallows small, and we compete and form rival blocs? Or will it be the alternative vision of a multipolar world, characterised by interdependence, cooperation, integration, mutual respect, rule of law with access to peaceful resolution of dispute? If we recognise that we are now in a multipolar world, and India as one of the key poles of this multipolar world – if India and the other superpowers of the future agree to construct an interdependent world, a world with more bridges and integration, then a new golden age awaits us.

That is the strategic choice that confronts all of us, the political leadership, economic leadership, cultural and social space.

My hope, my dream, is that we will make the right choice. And that our children and our grandchildren will look back and say we have arrived at a new golden age in this ‘New Journey’, along ‘Ancient Routes’.

Thank you all very much and have a wonderful day. 

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