Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart, Lawrence Wong, signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to bolster bilateral partnership in various fields, as the two leaders met in Singapore City on Thursday and agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
The MoUs focus on the digital technology, semiconductor, health and medicine sector and for educational cooperation and skills development.
PM Modi, after the discussion, wrote on X, "The discussions with my friend, PM Lawrence Wong continued today. Our talks focused on boosting cooperation in areas like skilling, technology, healthcare, AI and more. We both agreed on the need to boost trade relations".
During the meeting, the leaders reviewed the progress of India–Singapore bilateral relations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
"Given the breadth and depth of bilateral ties and immense potential, they decided to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This would also give a major boost to India’s Act East Policy," the MEA said, calling it a "new chapter in tries".
During his opening remarks, congratulating Wong, who was sworn in as Singapore's Prime Minister in May this year, PM Modi said, "This is our first meeting after you assumed the post of premier. Many congratulations to you from my side. I am confident that under the leadership of 4G (the fourth-generation leaders), Singapore will progress even faster".
According to the External Affairs Ministry, the Prime Minister also highlighted that Singapore, with an investment of around USD 160 billion in the Indian economy, is a leading economic partner for India.
"They also reviewed existing cooperation in the fields of defence and security, maritime domain awareness, education, AI, Fintech, new technology domains, science and technology and knowledge partnership. The two leaders called for strengthening connectivity between the countries to enhance economic and people-to-people ties," the MEA said in a statement.
PM Modi, later in the day, will also call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and senior ministers. He will also interact with Singaporean business leaders and will hold discussions with people associated with the semiconductor sector in Singapore.
