Transcript of Special Briefing by MEA on Official visit of Prime Minister of Singapore to India (September 04, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
September 04, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon friends, I welcome you to this press conference on the Prime Minister of Singapore's ongoing visit to India. We have with us Secretary (East), Shri P. Kumaran, to take us through all that has happened on this visit of the Prime Minister of Singapore. We are also joined by Additional Secretary (South) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Prashant Agrawal, as also our High Commissioner in Singapore, Dr. Shilpak Ambule.
With that, I hand over the floor to Secretary (East). Sir, over to you.
Shri P Kumaran, Secretary (East): Thank you, Randhir. Thank you very much, dear friends. Good evening to you. Warm welcome to all of you.
This is the first visit of Prime Minister Wong to India in his current position as Prime Minister. He had earlier come when he was Deputy Prime Minister. The visit, as you know, commenced on 2nd of September and will go on till tonight, when he will be returning to Singapore.
Singapore is an important partner for us. The two countries share a longstanding friendship, and a strong multifaceted bilateral partnership marked by mutual understanding. This is a significant visit, as it coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore, which were established soon after Singapore's independence in 1965. In fact, India was among the first countries to formalize diplomatic ties with Singapore. The visit is also special as it marks a year of Prime Minister Modi's successful visit to Singapore on 04 - 05 September 2024.
Prime Minister Wong is accompanied by his spouse, Mrs. Wong, and a high-level delegation comprising three ministers and senior officials. On his arrival in Delhi, Prime Minister Wong visited Rajghat, where he paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi. Our Prime Minister held wide-ranging and productive talks with Prime Minister Wong in both restricted and full delegation formats. PM hosted lunch in honor of the Prime Minister of Singapore. Prime Minister Wong will call on Rashtrapati Ji later today. The External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, called on Prime Minister Wong earlier today.
You would recall that during PM's visit to Singapore last year, both sides had agreed to elevate our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Today, the two leaders adopted a roadmap for our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The roadmap truly reflects the range and depth of our bilateral cooperation, and provides direction and momentum to it. This roadmap will facilitate bilateral engagements across eight priority areas, including economic cooperation, skills development, digitalization, sustainability, connectivity, healthcare and medicine, defense and security cooperation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
Five agreements or MOUs have been concluded in important fields, and were exchanged a short while ago. These include cooperation on a green and digital shipping corridor, promoting collaboration in the space sector, cooperation in training and R&D in the field of civil aviation, cooperation on digital asset innovation, and establishment of a national centre of excellence for skilling in advanced manufacturing in Chennai.
Separately, underscoring the importance of enhancing regional connectivity infrastructure to facilitate trade and economic growth, the two Prime Ministers jointly virtually inaugurated the phase two development of the Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal, BMCT, at Jawaharlal Nehru Port, JNP, Maharashtra. This project, developed on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer DBFOT basis, is operated by PSA International of Singapore. It is noteworthy that completion of this phase has doubled PSA's terminal capacity to 4.8 million TEUs annually, establishing it as India's largest single container terminal, and thus makes JNP the largest container port in the country.
Both Prime Ministers noted that there has been an uptick in bilateral relations since the last visit of Prime Minister Modi to Singapore. We hosted the President of Singapore, His Excellency Tharman Shanmugaratnam, for a State Visit in January this year. As you would recall, several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers from various states of India have also visited Singapore in recent months and years.
We also hosted several Singaporean Ministers, the latest being for the one-of-a-kind bilateral mechanism of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. The third round of ISMR, the Ministerial Roundtable, was held just about 20 days ago, when 10 Ministers from both sides held detailed discussions on the six pillars identified. These exchanges reflect the importance attached by the two sides to our bilateral cooperation.
The two Prime Ministers appreciated the sustained expansion in bilateral trade, which has grown from about $6.7 billion in 2004-05 to nearly $35 billion in 2024-25. They agreed that the two sides should work on the next review of the India-Singapore CICA and the ASEAN-India Trade and Goods Agreement, AITIGA.
The Prime Ministers also appreciated the growing investment flows between India and Singapore and noted the potential to increase these further. As you would recall, in Financial Year 2024-25, Singapore was the largest source of FDI into India, and it is also the largest for cumulative FDI into India, amounting to nearly $170 billion. Many Indian companies have also established their footprint in Singapore as a gateway to Southeast Asia and beyond.
India-Singapore relations are not only robust but are also future-oriented. Our cooperation is expanding to new and emerging areas. The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction on progress made in new areas such as semiconductors, green economy, including green shipping, skill development, digitalization, space, next generation industrial parks, etc.
We had exchanged an MOU on semiconductor ecosystem partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Singapore last year. Under this MOU, we have set up a bilateral semiconductor policy dialogue, and both sides are working on investments, Business-to-Business connect, skilling and R&D to promote the semiconductor ecosystem in India. Thus making it a very promising area of cooperation in the coming years.
Singapore has also been an important partner for us in the field of education, capacity building, and skill development. We appreciate Singapore's support for the National Centre of Excellence in Skilling project. Singapore will be our partner for the National Centre of Excellence in Skilling in the area of advanced manufacturing to be set up at the National Skill Training Institute in Chennai. Singaporean companies have also invested in green hydrogen and green ammonia space in India.
The MOU concluded on green and digital shipping corridor will facilitate collaboration on zero or near zero greenhouse gas emission fuel supply chains, and our maritime industries stand to benefit from this agreement.
Under the digitization pillar, we have the UPI-PayNow Connect established in 2023, and has emerged as an important collaboration project in FinTech. Both sides are now expanding its scope and reach.
We also exchanged the MOU on digital asset innovation today, which will help foster cooperation between RBI on our side and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, MAS, in the digital space, including central bank digital currencies, CBDCs.
We also have ongoing cooperation in the area of Space. ISRO has launched 18 Singaporean satellites in the past and with the MOU exchanged today, we will be working for further collaboration in the areas of space technology and space startups.
Defense cooperation was also acknowledged as an important area of bilateral partnership. It was agreed to further the momentum of exchanges and training cooperation as well as engagement between the two sides, including all the three services. There was also agreement to explore cooperation in the defense technology space.
Finally, India and Singapore have very strong people-to-people bonds. The thriving Indian community in Singapore is a living bridge and makes valuable contributions. It was agreed to further strengthen our cultural and people-to-people ties. The two Prime Ministers also discussed India's relations with ASEAN and Singapore has always been an important partner in India's ACT-EAST policy.
So this is basically what I had for my opening remarks. We are happy to take any questions.
Thank you very much.
Keshav Padmanabhan, ThePrint: Thank you. Keshav Padmanabhan from ThePrint. So I just wanted to ask, with Singapore being one of the largest funders of FDI in India over the last, say, 25 years. Have they announced or spoke about any targets that annually they want to increase in terms of investment in India?
And the larger context of this is with Japan recently saying they want to double their investment, and Singapore seemingly bullish. What does that say when we talk about the larger context of tariffs and the global geopolitics when it comes to Indian businesses?
And if you would permit me, another question. The Joint Statement had something on the patrolling across the Malacca Straits that India is interested in, and this is something that the two sides want to work on with defense and security engagement. Could you give us a sense of what really was discussed with regards to this specific proposal as well? Thank you.
Sidhant Sibal, WION: Hi sir, Sidhant from WION. Was there any discussion on Donald Trump's tariff concern for both countries? Any specific conversation on that part?
And also, secondly, the Prime Minister mentioned about cooperation in civil nuclear domain. What kind of cooperation are we looking at?
Manas, PTI: This is Manas from PTI, Press Trust of India. Just wanted to check with you, was there any discussion about a proposal to export solar energy from India to Singapore via underwater cable that could be used for data connectivity also?
And also on the nuclear thing, are we looking at SMRs for nuclear cooperation between the two countries? Thank you.
Yeshi Seli, Business India: This is Yeshi Seli from Business India. I'd like to know more about this cooperation between GIFT City and Singapore, and also what are the talks that focus around aviation?
Vishu, ANI: Hi, sir. This is Vishu from ANI. You mentioned about Defense Corporation. Can you give us more detail what kind of cooperation are we planning with Singapore? Are they interested in buying Indian weaponry or something?
Shri P Kumaran, Secretary (East): All right, thank you.
Let me start with the FDI. Singapore has been a very important partner for FDI over many, many years. In fact, over the last seven years or so, Singapore has been the largest FDI investor in India, averaging about $15 billion a year. In fact, the cumulative FDI from Singapore since the time we started keeping figures in around 2000, works out to about $170 billion.
So, clearly, there is a lot of interest. Given that the growth story of India is intact, the fact that there are multiple opportunities coming up, the fact that there are uncertainties globally, Singapore continues to see India as a place where significant growth is possible, and their returns will continue to be good. And therefore, they are looking at investing increasingly in India in the coming years too, in line with the trend that we have seen over the last two decades or so. But there is no specific target set by the two sides. Overall, the scene is bullish, but we haven't set any targets.
Malacca Straits Patrol, this is something that is part of the regular patrolling that is undertaken by the four countries that are part of the Malacca Straits interface, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. They conduct a regular patrol. And we have been asking, given that the Andaman Sea is next to the Malacca Straits ... we have been asking to participate in that. There are ongoing discussions. We still don't have any conclusion on that. The expectation is that there will be some kind of coordination to ensure that there is synergy among the current members of the Malacca Straits Patrol and India as a contiguous state, which is next to the Malacca Straits.
On Trump tariffs, there was no discussion, except for the broad global uncertainty and the need for all of us to try and diversify our trade relationships, our investment relationships, and to explore as many Preferential Trade Agreements or Free Trade Agreements as possible, to try and diversify our supply chains and make them more resilient. So broadly, that was the kind of discussions that were held on this issue.
Civil Nuclear Cooperation. Yes, there is broad agreement that this is a potential area of cooperation, including new and emerging technologies, such as SMRs, Small Modular Reactors. It's still very early, there was only a preliminary discussion. It was agreed that teams will be formed on both sides to try and take this discussion forward. So we look forward to more details as and when the two teams engage.
Solar energy exports, and you mentioned an underwater cable. Yes, there is a broad suggestion that something like that can be done. But there was no specific discussion on that this time. But during the India-Singapore ministerial roundtable held about 20 odd days ago, there was a suggestion that India could consider joining the ASEAN electricity grid. So, there is a potential for cooperation there, and we will be taking the discussions forward.
Defense cooperation, it's still a work in progress. There are a number of elements, including joint exercises, training, capacity building, defense industrial dialogue, defense policy dialogue, participation in each other's seminars, etc. As part of defense industry cooperation, we do talk about possibilities for co-development, co-production, developing technologies, etc. together, and possibly sharing the outputs of any such collaboration. But nothing specific yet, so this is still work in progress.
Civil aviation. There are multiple elements that go into civil aviation cooperation, including increasing connectivity, number of flights, destinations, etc. There is also a suggestion that MRO, Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul, is a major area of collaboration. Singapore has very good experience and expertise in the area of MRO, and therefore it is a very promising area for us to collaborate. Singapore wants to invest in MRO facilities in India, help develop capacity in India, basically driven by the fact that it's a very vast business that is generated for them. SIA Engineering is the company in Singapore. They want to partner with the Tata's, since Singapore Airlines is invested in Air India to the extent of 25%, so it makes sense for them to collaborate in the area of MRO with Tata's, and also to help develop capacity in India, and to use the land availability in India to set up MRO facilities. So broadly, those are the areas where we collaborate in the area of civil aviation.
Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Bloomberg: Sir, Sudhi Ranjan from Bloomberg. On the semiconductors thing, if you could give us an understanding what exactly, you know, what was decided today. And therefore going forward, are we looking at investments, are we looking at design help, what are we looking at?
Kallol Bhattacherjee, The Hindu: Kallol Bhattacherjee from the Hindu sir. Sir, did the situation in Myanmar feature in the talks, and did the two sides discuss the upcoming election in Myanmar?
Siddhant Mishra, CNN News 18: Hi sir, I'm Siddhant from CNN News 18. Sir, Joint Statement mentions the third review of CECA and substantial review of ASEAN-India trade and goods agreement. Sir, if you can elaborate a little bit on what is Singapore's point of view as far as the review of these two existing agreements is concerned. Thank you.
Neeraj Kumar Dubey, Prabhasakshi: Sir namaskar, main Neeraj Dubey, Prabhasakshi se. Sir, mera prashn yeh hai ki jo aaj ka jo joint statement hai usme kaha gaya hai ki mantristariy golmej baithakain hongi. Toh iska aayojan kab se hoga? Aur Malacca wale prashn ka halaki aapne uttar de diya hai lekin agar aap usko Hindi mein dohra sake.
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, namaskar. I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabhasakshi. Sir, my question is that in today's Joint Statement it has been mentioned that there will be ministerial-level roundtable meetings. So, from when will these be organized? And regarding the question on Malacca, you have already given an answer, but if you could kindly repeat it in Hindi.
Manas, PTI: Manas, again from PTI. I just come to the Joint Statement actually, and it says that both the countries will cooperate in development of unmanned vessels under the broader framework of defense cooperation. So what kind of platform it would be? Unmanned vessels, kind of underwater or something related to that?
Niraj Kumar, News18 India: Sir, Niraj hoon News18 India se. Joint statement mein food security ko lekar cooperation badhane ki baat ki gayi hai. Uske mayne kya hain? Kyuki teesre desh ka bhi zikr kiya gaya hai usme.
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, I am Niraj from News18 India. In the Joint Statement, it has been mentioned to enhance cooperation regarding food security. What does it mean, since a third country has also been referred to in it?
Shri P Kumaran, Secretary (East): Let me start with semiconductors. You know, we have this India-Singapore semiconductor ecosystem partnership, which was signed during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Singapore last year. It provides a framework for cooperation on developing semiconductor supply chains.
Singapore started manufacturing hard disks. Seagate and others invested in Singapore many years ago. And therefore, they have a very good experience with high value manufacturing, given that Singapore is a country with wages or wage levels that are far higher than India. And, the fact that they are short of land, they focus on high value manufacturing. And electronics is an area that they focused on quite early.
So therefore, we have a lot to benefit by cooperating with them. Using the MOU that was signed, we set up a semiconductor policy dialogue to help learn something from them in terms of regulating the semiconductor ecosystem. We are also collaborating with them and work has already started on it, for semiconductor R&D and skilling. We need to develop a skilling ecosystem so that our youngsters are trained to be able to respond to industry needs when it comes to semiconductor investments, and facilities that are set up.
Singapore has also expressed interest in investments in this sector and also getting their private sector companies to come in and expand their presence in India to set up a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem clusters for both design and fabrication.
We are also looking at developing supply chain resilience, diversifying sources. And a large Singapore industry delegation visited Semicon India. Their pavilion was one of the largest.
We are also looking at what is called Green Laning Initiative. It is a new name. It is a new idea. The aim is to try and optimize the supply chains on the two sides. There is a pilot that they will carry out to study how exactly the supply chains are distributed between India and Singapore, and how to optimize them in a way that risks are minimized, efficiencies are maximized, including logistical efficiencies. So, all these are areas that we are working in the area of semiconductors.
On Myanmar, there was no discussion. It was not a subject that was raised by either side.
SICA, AITIGA review. As I said, Singapore is an important partner for us when it comes to working with the rest of the ASEAN partners. They are one of our strongest partners when it comes to trade and investment, as I mentioned earlier. We've had a SICA with Singapore, which came into force sometime in 2005-2006. And of course, AITIGA review, we've heard so much about it in the last couple of months.
Singapore has agreed to help explain our position to the rest of the ASEAN partners in terms of the need to arrive at a reviewed arrangement that can result in a win-win situation for both sides. The broad grievance on our side is that the trade deficit on our side has increased since the time the AITIGA was signed, and that we should try and tweak the arrangements in such a way that we come to a more balanced trade situation. There are a few suggestions made by the Department of Commerce. I will not go into the details, but these are matters of negotiation, and we hope to arrive at a more balanced solution to this.
Food security is an area of interest for Singapore. So there's no serious agriculture in Singapore. It depends entirely on imports for all its food needs. And therefore, India comes across as a useful partner for food security. It is one of the pillars under sustainability for the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. And, there are discussions ongoing about what can be done to produce food safely, and in a reliable manner, and how to take care of market access issues for our food products in Singapore and in the rest of ASEAN in general.
Unmanned vessels is, again, a new area identified for collaboration. We don't have much details. It could include unmanned surface vessels, possibly even underwater vessels. It's still too early to go into the details on that. But clearly, new and emerging defense technologies are areas of interest. Singapore has a strong R&D ecosystem. There are a number of specialized agencies like ASTAR that promote R&D initiatives in Singapore. So the broad aim will be to try and connect the two startup ecosystems, undertake joint R&D projects in such a way that technologies of interest can be promoted.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: With that, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the close of this press briefing. Thank you very much for your presence and for your participation. Thank you.
New Delhi
September 04, 2025
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