Singapore's Deputy PM to arrive in India for 5-day official visit on Sep 17

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will arrive in India on Saturday on a five-day official visit to deepen the existing cooperation and identify opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration in new and emerging areas, the Prime Minister's Office here said on Friday.

This will be Wong's first official visit to the country in his capacity as the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore.

He will participate in the inaugural India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) in New Delhi on Saturday, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

The ISMR is a new ministerial platform between the two countries, seeking to "deepen existing cooperation and identify opportunities for mutually-beneficial collaboration in new and emerging areas", it said.

Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, will attend the ISMR with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran.

He will also meet senior Indian leaders and personalities, the PMO said.

On Sunday, Wong will travel to Gujarat, where he will meet Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel and visit Gujarat International Finance City.

He will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, Channel News Asia reported.

India and China are important for Singapore to progress in the current volatile economic environments, and global markets are hit by high-powered headwinds, with disruption of supplies and increasing tension caused by Ukraine-Russia conflicts and uncertainties caused by positions and postures taken by China, Taiwan and the US, political observers said.

Commercially sensitive Singapore, which sits in the midst of the largest markets of India and China, is concerned about managing a balanced relationship.

Market-oriented economies like Singapore are concerned about China-US postures and need an in-depth understanding of deep thinking in New Delhi and Beijing while seeking Washington-led Western economies' strategies for a prosperous world, said the observers.