The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday that the third round of India-Singapore Round Table Conference (ISMR) will be in New Delhi on Wednesday, aims to further expand and deepen bilateral relations between the two countries. According to media reports, this high-level discussion is happening before Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s visit to India next month.
India and Singapore are working towards finalizing about 10 compromise measures in areas such as advanced technology, connectivity, skill development and digitization during their meeting of their top ministers this week. People familiar with this matter gave this information. He said that both sides are also in the process of finalizing the ambitious proposal of laying cables under the sea to deliver solar energy from India to Singapore, which will also provide data connectivity.
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There is also a sense of export of green ammonia and green hydrogen from India to Singapore, which is seen as part of the overall approach to further strengthening bilateral relations. People familiar with the case said that preparations are being made to finalize these proposals before Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s visit to India next month. He informed that the third meeting of the Indo-Singapore Ministerial Round Table Conference (ISMR) will be held on August 13 in New Delhi, in which preparations will be made for Wong’s visit.
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Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav will hold talks with six ministers of Singapore under ISMR. In September last year, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Singapore, India-Singapore relations were taken to a wide strategic partnership level. The meeting between India and Singapore is also expected to be discussed on the agreements related to skill development, which will be focused on cooperation in areas such as aviation, semiconductor and advanced manufacturing.
The effect of Washington’s fee (tariff) policy in ISMR and methods of dealing with it can also be discussed. Sources said that the two countries are working on a scheme with the aim of providing skill development training to around 1,00,000 Indians annually. He informed that Singapore companies will also be discussed in ISMR to increase investment in India. The first ISMR meeting was held on 17 September 2022 in New Delhi, in which four senior ministers of Singapore came to India. The second meeting was held on 26 August 2024 in Singapore.
Promoting overall trade between the two countries in the upcoming ISMR is also likely to be included in the major agenda. Singapore is India’s largest trading partner in ASEAN (organization of South-East Asian countries). It is a major source of FDI (FDI).