NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday and extended greetings on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Had a fruitful discussion on advancing our technology, and industrial partnership. Also spoke about our engagement in regional forums,” said Jaishankar after the meeting.
Jaishankar was in Singapore to attend the 8th roundtable of the ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT).
The External Affairs Minister also met Singapore’s top leaders, including President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and discussed ways to advance the bilateral partnership and shared perspectives on regional and global developments.
Jaishankar is in Singapore on the second leg of his two-nation tour, which also took him to Australia.
He started the day-long visit to the country by meeting Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong. “Discussed taking forward contemporary partnership, with a focus on industrial parks, green energy, skilling, innovation and semiconductors,” the minister posted on X. He also met his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
With Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, he shared perspectives on the security situation in the Indo-Pacific and bilateral defence cooperation.
In the AINTT meeting Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s interest in fortifying connectivity. “Recent conflicts and extreme climate events have only underlined the case for new connectivity initiatives. As far as India is concerned, the Trilateral Highway to the East and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and the International North South Transport Corridor are major commitments. Understanding their implications is the key to exploiting the opportunities they present,” he said.
Jaishankar spoke about three major events that impacted the world during the past few years. “The first is China’s entry into the WTO in 2001 that had profound consequences for globalisation. Second is the financial crisis of 2008, which heralded a new era of rebalancing. Third is the 2020 pandemic,” he said.
He also said the US had reset its terms across the world over multiple administrations. “A conflict in Ukraine has shaken Eurasia out of its strategic complacency. West Asia/Middle East is seeing longstanding issues and fissures exploding. In our own continent, territorial disputes and challenges to international law have become a significant recurring source of instability,” he added.