India, Singapore to focus on advanced manufacturing, connectivity to boost bilateral cooperation
New Delhi, Aug 27 (Representative) Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw during their deliberations in Singapore today for the Second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable decided to add two new pillars, Advanced Manufacturing and Connectivity, for further strengthening the bilateral cooperation.Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology, attended the 2nd round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), in Singapore today.From the Singapore side, Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Chee Hong Tat, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance, participated in the meeting, a statement said. The Ministers reviewed the progress of the India–Singapore Strategic Partnership, particularly under the pillars of Digitalization, Skills Development, Sustainability, Healthcare & Medicine, identified during the First meeting of ISMR (held in New Delhi on 17 September 2022).
They deliberated on ideas to expand bilateral cooperation and decided to add two new pillars, Advanced Manufacturing and Connectivity for further strengthening bilateral cooperation. The Ministers agreed to hold the next round of ISMR in India at a mutually convenient time.During their visit, the Indian Ministers also called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.India and Singapore are important partners of each other. The visit reaffirmed the commitment of both sides to further strengthen their multifaceted partnership, the statement added.Earlier, EAM Jaishankar said that he along with Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw had a productive Second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, and explored cooperation in several fields.In a post on X, the EAM said the two sides explored cooperation in digital, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and advanced manufacturing.“A productive 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable today.“We explored India-Singapore cooperation in digital, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity and advanced manufacturing.“Thank DPM Gan Kim Yong, FM @VivianBala, Home Affairs & Law Minister @kshanmugam, Digital Development and Information Minister @joteo_ylm, Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng and Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat for their commitment to deepening our relationship.ISMR enables the emergence of a more contemporary India-Singapore partnership.”