‘Our confidence in India backed by proven track record’

A strong and rising India contributes to stability and resilience in Asia and opens up new opportunities for its partners around the region, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Wednesday ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at forging a new roadmap for bilateral relations.

- Rezaul H Laskar

Singapore, the largest source of foreign direct investment into India that accounts for nearly 24% of all FDI inflows, is optimistic about India's growth prospects because of its youth, rising middle class, dynamic tech sector, and a government committed to reforms, Wong said in an interview with HT. “So we will continue to invest in India, we will continue to have confidence in India’s prospects for the future,” he said.

‘As part of efforts to help India emerge as a semiconductor hub, Singapore is backing a “green lane” for semiconductor goods that will facilitate supply of raw materials and equipment and bring the ecosystems of the two sides closer together to facilitate exchange and align standards, Wong said.

Singapore, Wong said, is watching with “great concern” the trade tensions between India and the US and the differences between China and the US.

“The one thing we can do proactively is to work with like-minded countries to foster closer links, to operate on the basis of a rules-based trading framework to bring our economies closer together... We believe we can do so with India because we have with India a strategic partnership built on 60 years of friendship and trust,” he said.

Edited excerpts:

You're in India for your first visit as Prime Minister after the third meeting of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which oversees economic cooperation. How would you assess this meeting and how has ISMR advanced bilateral cooperation?