Context:
India and Singapore are going to hold the second round of ministerial roundtable meeting. It aims to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it.
Relevance:
GS-II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- History of India-Singapore Relations
- Relations with Singapore related to Defence and Security
- Trade Relations with Singapore
- Indian Diaspora and Culture in Singapore
India–Singapore relations
History of India-Singapore Relations
- India and Singapore share long-standing cultural, commercial and strategic relations, with Singapore being a part of the “Greater India” cultural and commercial region. Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere is an area composed of many countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture.
- Following its independence in 1965, Singapore was concerned with China-backed communist threats as well as domination from Malaysia and Indonesia and sought a close strategic relationship with India, which it saw as a counterbalance to Chinese influence and a partner in achieving regional security.
- Singapore had always been an important strategic trading post, giving India trade access to the Far East.
- Diplomatic relations between India and Singapore were established in 1965 right after Singapore’s independence.
- Military relations between the two nations had been limited due to foreign policy differences in the Cold War era, as Singapore was allied with NATO, whilst India established itself as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Relations with Singapore related to Defence and Security
- In 2003, India and Singapore signed a bilateral agreement on expanding military cooperation, conducting joint military training, developing military technology and achieving maritime security.
- The Singaporean Navy and the Indian Navy have conducted joint naval exercises and training since 1993 such as SIMBEX and MILAN near India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- India and Singapore have also expanded their cooperation in fighting terrorism.
Trade Relations with Singapore
- Singapore is the 8th largest source of investment in India and the second largest amongst ASEAN member nations.
- Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Singapore into India till 2018 was 19% of total FDI inflow.
- Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) singed between India and Singapore was the first comprehensive agreement covering trade in goods, services and investments signed by India with any of its trading partners.
Indian Diaspora and Culture in Singapore
- More than 500,000 people of Indian origin live in Singapore.
- Singapore’s large Indian diaspora through a number of cultural societies and Singapore’s official support sustains a high level of cultural activity in Singapore.
- Ethnic Indians constitute about 9.1% or around 3.5 lakhs of the resident population of 3.9 million in Singapore.
- 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.
- Singapore celebrated the 4th International Day of Yoga (IDY) through 173 yoga sessions and attended by approx. 8000 people.
- Even on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, celebrations were launched with a projection of Gandhiji’s video on the world’s largest HD video screen at Suntec Convention Centre.
-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express
