India, Singapore to sign 5 pacts during PM Lawrence Wong's three-day visit

Singapore PM Lawrence Wong began a three-day India visit on Tuesday, with five pacts expected in shipping, civil aviation and space, alongside trade and green energy talks

India and Singapore will sign five agreements in shipping, civil aviation, and space sectors during Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s three-day visit to the country, beginning Tuesday. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Wong are slated to hold talks on Thursday, and will virtually inaugurate a container terminal in Maharashtra. The Port of Singapore Authority (PSA International) has inve­sted over $1 billion in the project. This is Wong's first visit to India as PM. Singapore is an important pillar in India’s ‘Act East’ policy, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday, announcing Wong's trip. 

Both the sides are looking at the possibility of exporting solar energy from India to Singapore via an underwater cable, which could also be used for data connectivity, people in the know said. A feasibility study carried out on the proposed project indicated some challenge for laying of the cable in view of the Andaman Trench. As part of the proposal for data connectivity, the two sides have created a financial data regulatory “sandbox” at Gift City in Gujarat, the sources said. Export of green ammonia and green hydrogen from India to Singapore is another proposal that the two sides are looking at. 

 

In FY25, Singapore was the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, with FDI inflows of $14.94 billion. 

The cumulative FDI inflows from Singapore to India stood at $174.88 billion (April 2000– March 2025), which is 24 per cent of total FDI inflows in India, including $60 billion in the post-Covid period, according to official data. 

India-Singapore bilateral trade increased from $6.7 billion in 2004-05 to $34.26 in 2024-25. Singapore is India’s sixth largest trade partner (2024-25) with a share of 2.96 per cent of India’s overall trade. 

The two countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in 2005. 

Ahead of Wong's visit, the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) took place in New Delhi on August 13. From the Indian side, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw conducted talks with six Singaporean ministers. 

According to the Singapore Census of Population 2024, people of Indian origin constitute 9 per cent of its 4.19 million resident population. In addition, among the 1.86 million foreigners residing in Singapore, about 20 per cent (around 380,000) are Indian expatriates, mostly serving in financial services, IT, construction and marine sectors or are students. 

India and Singapore have robust defence cooperation pursued under the aegis of the Defence Cooperation Agreement of 2003, which was renewed under the Enhanced Agreement for Defence Cooperation in 2015. 

India and Singapore have several structured defence interactions, spanning from political leadership down to staff levels of all three-armed forces. Singapore co-hosted the inaugural ASEAN – India Maritime Exercise in Singapore in 2023. Singapore has participated in all editions of biennial Exercise Milan since its inception in 1995. 

This year, a total of 10 Indian Navy ships have so far visited Singapore for operational turn around or as goodwill visits.

In the space sector, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched several Singaporean satellites, including its first indigenous built micro-satellite in 2011, two more in 2014, six in 2015 and nine in 2023. 

Singapore has the highest concentration of alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management in any one city outside India. Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore. 

with PTI inputs