EAM Jaishankar hails 'productive' India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable

Singapore, Aug 26 (IANS) India and Singapore explored enhanced cooperation in digital, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and advanced manufacturing areas during the 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) held in Singapore on Monday.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw led the Indian delegation at the meeting while Singapore was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng, and Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat.

EAM Jaishankar called the discussions "productive" and thanked the Singapore ministers for their commitment to deepening the bilateral relationship.

"ISMR enables the emergence of a more contemporary India-Singapore partnership," Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.

Earlier the Indian ministerial delegation jointly called on Singapore Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong and also attended a luncheon meeting hosted by Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Wong, who had led the Singapore delegation for the first ISMR held in New Delhi in September 2022, called the roundtable as an important platform to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

"Glad that progress has been made on several fronts since our last meeting. And new ideas for cooperation are being pursued, including in advanced manufacturing and connectivity. These initiatives will pave the way for closer strategic cooperation and partnership between India and Singapore," the Singapore PM said after his meeting with the visiting Indian ministers on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met CEOs of various Singaporean companies over breakfast.

"Discussions centered around how these stakeholders, having significant investments in India, can grow further while contributing to the journey of achieving PM Narendra Modi ji's vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047," said Goyal.

ISMR is a unique high-level mechanism established to set a new agenda for India–Singapore bilateral relations.

The second ISMR also reviewed the progress from the first ISMR and identified new growth areas of cooperation.

"The establishment of the ISMR is a pathbreaking initiative which was envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reflects the unique nature of India-Singapore bilateral relationship," the MEA had said after the inaugural ISMR meeting.

Discussions during the inaugural round especially focused on emerging areas of digital connectivity, fintech, green economy, skill development and food security.

Appreciating ISMR, PM Modi had hoped that such initiatives would help further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

After the first meeting, a FinTech Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) in Gujarat.