Second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable Kicks Off Today

Singapore: India and Singapore are getting ready for second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) on Monday (August 26) with ministers from both the countries coming together in Singapore for discussions on a range of topics. The Indian delegation will comprise Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affair Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Railways, Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The Singaporean delegation will be led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.

The delegation will also include Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng, and Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat.

Both delegations are expected to hold talks on range of topic of mutual interest and bilateral ties.

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will host a lunch for the Indian ministers. The Indian delegation will also meet Singapore Prime Minister and Minister For Finance Lawrence Wong. The dinner for the Indian delegation will be hosted by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Gan.

What is ISMR?

ISMR is a bilateral platform between India and Singapore which sees high-level engagement between the two nations. This is the second roundtable ministerial meet between the two countries . The first ISMR was held on September 17, 2022 in New Delhi.

At the time, the discussions were focused on food cooperation, energy and green economy projects, digitalisation, skills economy, pharmaceutical and healthcare.

Singapore has a large Indian diaspora and ancient ties between the two means that both countries have cultural ties that literally span centuries. Even in modern sense, the two countries have mutual interests in areas including geopolitics.

Published on: Monday, August 26, 2024, 10:10 AM IST