Dikhyaa Mohanty 
In attendance at the 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable is Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who arrived in Singapore on Sunday. Three other senior colleagues, including External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, will also be attending. According to a post on X by the Finance Ministry, Sitharaman was greeted at Changi International Airport by India’s Deputy High Commissioner Pooja Tillu and Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong.
The MEA said in a statement that in addition to the Finance and External Affairs ministers, the second round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable will be held on Monday. The other ministers involved are Piyush Goyal, who is in charge of commerce and industry, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is in charge of railways, information and broadcasting, and electronics and information technology. The Ministers will meet with their counterparts and make calls to the Singaporean government while they are there.
According to the MEA, the ISMR is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India–Singapore bilateral relations. Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022. This meeting will enable both sides to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it, it said. Commerce and Industry Minister Goyal, who is already in the southeast Asian country, posted on X: “Wrapped up a very fruitful day in Singapore today, with interactions and discussions with leaders of major global investment firms having over US$ 500 billion of assets under management.”
“Positioned India as an attractive investment destination and invited these multinationals to be a part of our development journey.”
Minister Goyal said that it “was a pleasure to meet Ms. Cindy Lim, CEO of Infrastructure at global asset manager and operator, Keppel” and they “discussed the company’s investment plans in India to support sustainable development through decarbonisation and help accelerate India’s target of achieving net zero carbon emissions”.
He also met Ashish Goyal, Executive Vice President and Head, Asia Pacific of pension fund, OMERS, and “discussed their current and future investment strategies for India and ways to further strengthen India’s investment-friendly climate”.
A major source of FDI for India, Singapore, in 2023-24, was the largest contributor with an estimated $11.77 billion in inflows. The cumulative inflow of FDI from Singapore from April 2000 to March 2024 is around $159.94 billion. In bilateral trade, Singapore was the 6th largest global trade partner of India in 2023-24 with a total trade of $35.61 billion which accounts for approximately 29 per cent of India’s total trade with ASEAN.
(IANS)
