India, S'pore Discuss Deeper Tie-Ups in Digitalisation, Skills and Industrial Parks

Ministers also discuss collaboration on cross-border data flows and capital markets

- Nirmala Ganapathy

NEW DELHI - India and Singapore explored deepening their engagement on digitalisation, skills building and industrial parks at a meeting of a key bilateral platform on Aug 13 during Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong's visit to the South Asian state.

DPM Gan led a six-member Singapore delegation at the third edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which aims to boost collaboration between the two nations in emerging fields.

According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press statement, the two sides reaffirmed the close and longstanding relationship between Singapore and India, underpinned by strong economic and people-to-people ties.

They reviewed the good progress since the last meeting in Singapore in 2024, and expressed support for deeper cooperation in a wide range of areas that included sustainability, healthcare and medicine, advanced manufacturing, and connectivity.

The ministers also discussed collaboration on cross-border data flows and capital markets via the use of regulatory sandboxes, as well as cooperation on skills training in semiconductors, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and India's national centres of excellence.

The other members of the delegation from Singapore were Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng, and Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow.

The Indian side was represented by Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways, and Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw.