New Delhi: Amid China's growing influence in the ASEAN region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Singapore on September 4-5 at the invitation of the newly elected Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to play a bigger role and strengthen bilateral engagement with Southeast Asia.
In response to ETV Bharat's Chandrakala Choudhury, as to how the relations between India and Singapore going further given the new regime in place and also as far as China's rising influence is concerned, Secretary EAST in the Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Mazumdar said, "Independent of our relations with any third country, India and Singapore relations are poised for an even bigger takeoff, I think than what it has been in the last 10-15 years or so. That is because we have now gone to the next level of identifying areas of bilateral cooperation whether it be in food security, in renewables, in green hydrogen, in semiconductors, these are all areas where we have great complementarities and we can really complement each other in each of them".
"India- Singapore relationship as really taking off to the next stage and this is entirely driven by the logic of our respective situations. For Singapore, India presents tremendous opportunities and for us, Singapore presents us with many options regarding whether it be value chains, digital technologies and semiconductors," added Mazumdar.
It is pertinent to note that China's influence in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has grown significantly over the past few decades. China is the largest trading partner of ASEAN. Trade between China and ASEAN has grown substantially, with the two sides forming a close economic partnership. In 2020, China and ASEAN became each other's largest trading partners for the first time.
Beijing is a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEAN countries. Investments have been made in various sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing and technology, often linked to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In fact, many ASEAN countries are involved in China's BRI, which aims to enhance connectivity and cooperation through infrastructure development. This has led to significant Chinese investments in ports, railways and other critical infrastructure across the region, which has become a major concern for India. The South China Sea is a major point of tension between China and several ASEAN members (e.g., Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia). China's assertive claims and actions in the South China Sea have led to diplomatic challenges within ASEAN where member states have diverse views on how to manage the disputes.
China and ASEAN are both part of RCEP, the world’s largest free trade agreement, which is expected to further integrate their economies. This could increase China's economic influence, although it also opens opportunities for ASEAN to engage with other partners. The evolving geopolitical landscape, including the US-China competition and India's growing role, will likely influence China's approach to ASEAN. ASEAN's centrality in the Indo-Pacific strategy adopted by various countries will also shape how China engages with the region.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting Singapore after six years and the visit is taking place at the time when a new leader in Singapore, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, has just taken over and this is an opportune time to set the stage for the next stage of our vibrant bilateral relationship.
"Our ties have evolved and we have a dynamic strategic partnership encompassing diverse areas from our shared history and people-to-people ties, which is an important link between us. Our trade and investment flows have shown steady growth, we have robust defence cooperation and growing exchanges in culture and education and we have identified new anchors of our partnership under the India-Singapore Ministerial Round Table framework. The visit will also take place in light of our 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, which we are celebrating in 2025 and the 10th year of our strategic partnership with Singapore," Secretary (East) said during a special media briefing here on Monday.
During the PM's visit, India and Singapore will also sign an MoU on semiconductors. "Singapore is very well plugged into the global semiconductor ecosystem. It has experience of more than 20 years in this area. This is an area that we are very keen to get into, and already we are seeing how we can cooperate with Singapore. If Singapore is already setting up facilities in India and there will be many other areas of the semiconductor itself, which will be discussed and cooperation moved forward during the visit, we expect the visit to give thrust to this particular area in our cooperation. From the point of trade and investment, the Prime Minister's visit to Singapore is significant. Singapore is India's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Singapore is India's 6th largest trade partner worldwide and the largest source of FDI during the last financial year", Secretary East Jaideep Mazumdar added. India received 11.77 billion dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Singapore during the last financial year.
Prime Minister Modi visited Singapore for the funeral of the 1st PM of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew on March 29, 2015. He officially visited Singapore from November 23 to 24, 2015. The PM delivered the 37th Singapore Lecture 'India's Singapore Story' and officially visited from May 31 to June 2, 2018.
Former Singapore PM Lee Hsieng Loong visited India from October 3-7, 2016. He visited India for the ASEAN - India Commemorative Summit and as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade, along with other ASEAN heads of State/ Governments in January 2018. PM Lee participated in the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2023.
On October 30, 2021, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with PM Lee on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rome. On February 21, 2023, the link between India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow was officially launched in the presence of PM Modi and PM Lee. The 1st meeting of ISMR (India-Singapore ministerial roundtable) was held in Delhi on September 17, 2022. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (who is now Prime Minister), Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Transport and Trade Relations S Iswaran and Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong participated from the Singapore side. The EAM and the Finance Minister participated from the Indian side.
The 2nd meeting of ISMR was held in Singapore on August 26, 2024. External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar visited Singapore in November 2021, October 2023 and March 2024. During his visits, he had engagements with several Singaporean dignitaries, business people and the Indian diaspora. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited India in June 2022 (for the Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting) and in March 2023 (for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting). The EAM and Singapore's Foreign Minister had several meetings on the sidelines of multilateral events, the latest being the ASEAN Meetings in Vientiane in July 2024.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the invitation of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, is also scheduled to visit Brunei Darussalam on September 3 and 4. After PM Modi's Brunei visit will be the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, during the visit, Prime Minister Modi will engage in bilateral discussions on all aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation with Brunei and also explore new areas for cooperation.
"India shares a very warm and friendly relationship with Brunei and our engagements cover multiple areas such as defence, trade and investment, energy, space, technology, health, capacity building, culture and vibrant people-to-people exchanges. The Indian diaspora in Brunei is about 14,000 and they comprise a substantial number of doctors and teachers in Brunei, who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei's economy and society. We have received valuable support from Brunei in our space programme. We have three MoUs with Brunei in this area. We established a telemetry tracking and command station in Brunei in 2000 and this tracks and monitors all our eastward launches of satellites and satellite launch vehicles. Defence is another important pillar in our bilateral cooperation. We have an MoU on defence, which was signed in 2016 and has since been renewed in 2021. It provides a framework for our collaboration that covers regular exchanges at high levels, naval and Coast Guard ship exchange visits, training and joint exercises, and participation in each other's exhibitions. We are also working towards establishing a joint working group for cooperation in the area of defence", Mazumdar said.
Brunei is an important partner for India's Act-East policy and our vision for the Indo-Pacific. As India marks the decade of Act-East policy this year, the visit is assumed to have additional significance. Diplomatic relations between India and Brunei Darussalam were established on May 10, 1984, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic ties.
India and Brunei share a warm and friendly relationship based on cultural linkages. The Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid state visits to India in 1992 and 2008 as well as attended the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summits in 2012 and 2018. In 2018, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah was the chief guest for the Republic Day parade, along with other ASEAN leaders. India and Brunei engage in diverse areas of cooperation including defence, trade and investment, energy, space technology, health, capacity building, culture as well as people-to-people exchanges.
Presently, approximately 14,000 Indians are living in Brunei. A substantial number of doctors and teachers in Brunei are from India and they have garnered goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei’s economy and society.
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