The elevation of India-Singapore relationship to comprehensive strategic partnership status reflects the strong economic and people-to-people ties that the countries have enjoyed for close to 60 years now. A trip to Singapore — for Prime Minister Narendra Modi this was a fifth — is usually more like a business visit to share the warmth of enduring ties.
The boost to a higher-level partnership with Singapore reflects India’s rising economic heft and place in world affairs today. Adding a new dimension to Mr Modi’s eastward trip was a visit to oil-rich Brunei, a first by an Indian PM, which may give impetus to collaborative efforts in the crucial semiconductor sector, which is going to define how the world is going to move forward in several breakthrough technology areas.
A congruence of Singaporean and Indian views on most topics, particularly on growth and development, has been a feature of the special relationship that makes ties with Singapore the warmest as well as the least contentious, even if the situation in Myanmar, marked by most recent violence, had to be discussed to take in current developments.
Singapore has never let its closeness to China come in the way of a stable view of the aspirations of growth and development that it shares with India. So much so, this partnership between like-minded countries with strategic neutrality as a defining feature of their foreign relations shines as a beacon in an otherwise fractured world of clashing views and perspectives, particularly through the prism that shows China as a global powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with.
The maturity of the relationship is also reflected in the joint statement mentioning not only the need to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea while pursuing peaceful resolution of issues but also Quad’s recognition of Singapore’s importance in the Indo-Pacific and the four nations accepting that there is no need not to disturb the island’s centrality in regional affairs.
The free movement of professionals of the new economy between the two countries and their contribution to knowledge sharing has been a highlight of the cooperation. Singapore is being practical in acknowledging that semiconductors, Indian payment systems in the digital age that have helped change the way money can flow to facilitate seamless trade, healthcare and tourism are topics of special interest.
India’s presence in Quad may not have taken off fully in terms of strategic cooperation, but a lot of good work has taken place in knowledge sharing in technology, cybersecurity and maritime infrastructure development. Singapore is likely to benefit from this, too, with India in a position to help with its enhanced maritime domain awareness and the capacity to detect and respond to any strange events in the Indo-Pacific.
The Indian diaspora, with a distinct leavening of Tamils who have lived there for close to 200 years in the multicultural milieu, has been recognised as a contributor to Singapore’s growth and the opening of a Thiruvalluvar cultural centre is testament to this. No doubt the Tamils and south Indians who comprise a majority of the 6.5 lakh people of Indian origin resident in Singapore will be part of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Singapore that is coming up in 2025.
