All eyes on MOUs to be signed during PM Wong’s upcoming India visit

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has an upcoming visit to India, and excitement is building up for the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to be signed by both countries.

PM Wong will be having a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was last in Singapore almost exactly a year ago, from Sep 4 to 5, 2024.

During Mr Modi’s visit, the leaders of both countries “agreed to elevate the Singapore-India Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to reflect the commitment of both sides to further deepen and broaden the bilateral relationship,” the Prime Minister’s Office said at the time.

India’s Economic Times quoted sources as saying that the MOUs during PM Wong’s upcoming visit are likely to concentrate on skill development, finance and digital revolution, civil aviation, space collaboration, and shipping.

The Hindu, meanwhile, reported that collaboration in the specific field of semiconductor manufacturing was said to have been an important part of the discussions held by the representatives of the two governments on Aug 13, when Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong led a team from Singapore for the third round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR).

He was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy, and Science and Technology Dr Tan See Leng, and Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow.

The Indian delegation included the country’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Singapore hosted the second round of the ISMR last year.

The six pillars of the ISMR are advanced manufacturing, connectivity, digitalisation, healthcare and medicine, skill development, and sustainability. The progress of a number of bilateral cooperation initiatives under these pillars was reviewed by the ministers of both countries during the Aug 13 meeting.

Among countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore is India’s biggest trading partner, with US$34.27 billion (S$43.97 billion) in trade in the last fiscal year.

Singapore’s total accumulated investments in India were about US$159 billion (S$204 billion) from 2014 to 2024. By the end of 2025, this amount is expected to go up to about US$175 billion (S$224 billion), with the Economic Times noting the increase in Singapore investments in India over the past few years. /TISG

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