India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable deliberates six identified pillars

The second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) was held in Singapore yesterday. During the meeting, the leaders of India and Singapore emphasised ways of further enhancing cooperation between India and Singapore in emerging and futuristic areas. Both sides deliberated upon six pillars identified under ISMR, which include digitalisation, skill development, sustainability, healthcare and medicine, and advanced manufacturing and connectivity.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal attended the meeting. The delegation from Singapore was led by Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Gan Kim Yong.

The leaders also discussed plans for commemorating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore, alongside regional and global cooperation, including ASEAN and G20 developments. The leaders noted that the discussions during the first round of ISMR have resulted in the successful conclusion of MoUs on healthcare, education, skill development, digital cooperation and semiconductor ecosystem cooperation.

Earlier, the Indian Ministers called on the President of



Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam and the Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Singapore. The leaders conveyed warm greetings of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the President of Singapore. In a social media post, Dr Jaishankar said, India values Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s guidance on ways to further take forward the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership. The Union Ministers appreciated Singapore Prime Minister Wong’s continued engagement with the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable.

The high-level Ministerial mechanism called the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) was established to chart a roadmap to take bilateral relations to a new level. The inaugural meeting of ISMR took place in September 2022 in New Delhi. The focus areas include digital connectivity, Fintech, Green Economy, Green Hydrogen, Skill Development and Food Security. India and Singapore’s bilateral trade is continuously rising. 

Bilateral trade expanded from 6.7 billion US dollars in the Financial Year 2004-05 to 30.11 billion US dollars in 2021-22. Singapore is India’s sixth largest trade partner with a share of 2.9 percent of India’s overall trade. Singapore continued to be the largest source of FDI into India.