India-Singapore Ties | 31 May 2023

Why in News?

The Union Education Minister of India recently embarked on a three-day visit to Singapore with the aim of strengthening existing ties and exploring opportunities for widening bilateral engagement in education and skill development.

What are the Key Highlights of the Meeting?

• The Union Education Minister met various key Ministers of the Singaporean Government and visited Spectra Secondary School.
  • It includes a constructive meeting with DPM & Minister for Finance, Singapore, on strengthening cooperation and focusing on skill development.
  • The meeting emphasized creating opportunities for lifelong learning, building a future-ready workforce, and making knowledge and skill development a key pillar of strategic partnership.
• The minister highlighted the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its focus on vocational education, market relevance of training, and integration of skills qualifications framework with higher education qualification framework.
• The Minister stressed on learning from the best practices of Singapore, collaborate and customize it to meet Indian needs.

How are India’s Relations with Singapore?

• Background:
  • The close ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links across a millennium.
  • The more modern relationship is attributed to Sir Stamford Raffles who, in 1819, established a trading station in Singapore on the route of the Straits of Malacca which later became a crown colony and governed from Kolkata till 1867.
    • After independence, India was one of the first countries to recognize Singapore in 1965.
• Trade and Economic Cooperation:
  • Singapore is among India's largest trade and investment partners in ASEAN and accounted for 27.3 % of our overall trade with ASEAN in 2021-22.
    • Singapore is also the leading source of Foreign Direct Investment into India.
    • Over the last 20 years the total investment into India from Singapore is almost 136.653 billion and accounts for nearly 23% of the total FDI inflows.
  • The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore was signed in 2005.
    • India and Singapore have also collaborated on several initiatives to promote trade and investment, such as the India-Singapore Business Forum and the India-Singapore CEOs Forum.
  • Recently, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow have been integrated in February 2023 to enable faster Remittances between the two countries.
• Defence and Security Cooperation:
  • Both countries share common concerns about regional stability and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.
    • In 2015, they elevated their relationship to a Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
  • They have also signed several agreements to enhance their defence ties, such as the Defence Cooperation Agreement (2003) and the Naval Cooperation Agreement (2017).
    • Military Exercises:
      • Navy: SIMBEX
      • Air Force: SINDEX
      • Army: Bold Kurukshetra
• Education, Science and Technology Cooperation:
  • The 28^th edition of the DST-CII India-Singapore Technology Summit was held in February 2022.
    • It highlighted collaboration of India and Singapore in AI, IoT, fintech, healthcare, biotech, smart manufacturing, green mobility, logistic and supply chain solutions, smart manufacturing, and sustainable urban development.
  • ISRO also launched Singapore’s first indigenously built micro-satellite in 2011.
  • Singapore is looking at collaborating with India in the area of digital public infrastructure on the lines of a national identity system like Aadhaar.
    • Another potential opportunity could be the integration of Singapore's 'Proxtera' (global digital hub of MSME ecosystems) with India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)
• Cultural and People-to-People Ties: Both countries share a rich heritage of cultural diversity, linguistic affinity and religious harmony.
  • Ethnic Indians constitute about 9.1% or around 3.5 lakhs of the resident population of 3.9 million in Singapore. They have contributed significantly to Singapore’s economic development, social fabric and cultural diversity.
  • ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was held in Singapore on 6-7 January 2018 as part of commemoration of 25 years of ASEAN-India Partnership, with the theme, “Ancient Route, New Journey”.
• Cooperation in Infrastructure Development:
  • Singapore's expertise in infrastructure development, smart cities, and urban planning aligns with India's goals of sustainable development and building smart cities.
    • Singaporean companies have been actively involved in infrastructure projects in India, including the development of industrial parks, airports, and urban infrastructure.

Source: PIB