SINGAPORE - President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have written to Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi respectively to congratulate them on India’s 75th Republic Day, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Jan 26.
In his letter to Mrs Murmu, Mr Tharman said Singapore and India share a long and warm partnership, underpinned by close people-to-people ties and strong cooperation in many fields.
He said 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,” said Mr Tharman, adding that both countries collaborate well in regional and multilateral forums.
He also congratulated Mrs Murmu on the successful conclusion of India’s Group of 20 (G-20) presidency.
He said 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,” said Mr Tharman.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you to further strengthen ties between our two countries.”
India marked its 75th Republic Day in an annual display of culture and military prowess on Jan 26, with French President Emmanuel Macron as the guest of honour.
PM Lee attended the event in 2018, together with nine other Asean leaders.
In his letter to Mr Modi, PM Lee said 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, he said the two countries 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,” PM Lee said. “This has made cross-border transactions safer and faster for businesses and individuals on both sides.”
He said he was glad to have met Mr Modi and attended the G-20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
“Under your leadership, India skilfully navigated a multitude of contentious issues to successfully conclude the G-20 New Delhi summit with a consensus Leaders Declaration,” he said.
Singapore and India have also cooperated well in Asean, said PM Lee, adding that Singapore welcomes India’s deepened engagement of the region.
He said Singapore and India co-hosted the inaugural Asean-India maritime exercise in 2023.
Both countries adopted joint statements on maritime cooperation and food security at the Asean-India summit the same year, said PM Lee.
“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,” he said.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you to further deepen and strengthen Singapore-India relations.”
