India, Singapore signal new phase in strategic partnership

India and Singapore on Thursday unveiled a sweeping roadmap to advance their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with a new phase of cooperation that spans trade, technology, defense, and people-to-people exchanges.

The framework was announced during the official visit of Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to New Delhi, where he held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and met other senior Indian leaders, including President Droupadi Murmu and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar.

Officials on both sides described the roadmap as a forward-looking and substantive blueprint that responds to changing economic realities, evolving security dynamics, and the pressing demands of technology and sustainability.

At the heart of the roadmap is a recognition that the two countries, despite their stark differences in size, share an unusual closeness rooted in history and geography. Singapore has long served as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia, both as an economic partner and as a hub for its diaspora.

India, for its part, has consistently viewed Singapore as a trusted interlocutor in ASEAN and a key player in shaping Indo-Pacific stability. This year’s anniversary lent additional symbolism to the summit, with both leaders stressing trust, mutual respect, and a willingness to invest in each other’s futures.

Economic anchor from trade to chips and ports

Economic cooperation was cast as the anchor of the new partnership. The two governments agreed to press ahead with a third review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), while also pledging to work together on a substantial review of the ASEAN–India Trade in Goods Agreement before the end of 2025.

Both sides emphasized the importance of aligning trade priorities through annual working groups, while seeking to deepen investment flows in forward-looking sectors.

Both leaders also witnessed the virtual inauguration of Phase 2 of PSA Mumbai, a container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai operated by the global arm of PSA.

The Phase 2 extension, when completed, would make PSA Mumbai India’s largest single container terminal.

In his remarks, Wong said India has in the past decade made remarkable advances, and as the fourth largest economy in the world, its dynamism and influence are felt far beyond its borders.

“We can draw strength from our shared history, and the friendship and trust between our people,” he said. “And together, we can strengthen resilience, seize new opportunities and contribute to stability and growth in our region and beyond.”

Modi said collaboration between the two countries has not been limited to just traditional areas, but has changed with the times to cover new fields such as advanced manufacturing, green shipping, skills development, civil nuclear cooperation and urban water management.

To boost trade, Singapore and India decided to review the bilateral CECA in a timely manner, while India is also reviewing its free trade agreement with Asean, he added.

Since CECA entered force in 2005, annual trade has grown by about 2.5 times, from $20 billion in 2005 to $52.2 billion in 2023.

Modi also noted that in the past year, chief ministers from four states–Odisha, Telangana, Assam and Andhra–visited Singapore, while Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam had visited India.

“This is a partnership with purpose, rooted in shared values and guided by mutual interests,” Modi said.

Meanwhile, among other key commitments made in the roadmap was a decision to support the growth of India’s nascent semiconductor industry. Singapore’s role as a global hub for semiconductor supply chains could prove critical as Delhi seeks to position itself as an alternative manufacturing base.

The two countries agreed to promote partnerships through research collaboration, workforce training, and potential joint investments.

Another plank of economic cooperation is the development of sustainable industrial parks and next-generation manufacturing clusters, a goal that ties into India’s industrial policy as well as Singapore’s expertise in master planning and green standards.

Capital market connectivity will also be expanded, building on the NSE-IFSC-SGX GIFT Connect, and the business communities on both sides were encouraged to strengthen dialogue through the India–Singapore Business Roundtable. Officials also highlighted space cooperation, ranging from Earth observation research to potential joint work on space policy and law.

Digital finance, AI, and green transition

Skills development formed another pillar of the partnership as both sides announced plans to create a National Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing in Chennai, focused on building links between industry and training institutions, setting standards for curricula, and rolling out certification frameworks.

Cooperation on vocational training will extend to student exchanges, teacher training, and industrial attachments, with a dedicated working group set up to review progress. At the state level, India’s partnership with Singapore on nursing talent development in Assam was cited as a model that could be replicated elsewhere.

The two governments also pledged to deepen collaboration on digital finance and fintech, including cybersecurity and capital market linkages.

The UPI–PayNow payments bridge, already a model of cross-border integration, will be expanded to cover paperless and secure transactions between merchants and individuals.

The TradeTrust framework for e-Bills of Lading will be further adopted to modernize trade documentation. Cooperation will extend to startups and SMEs, with a view to sharing experiences in digital solutions, and to critical and emerging technologies, notably artificial intelligence.

Officials underlined the potential for joint work in developing AI-ready datasets for sectors such as agriculture and healthcare, while also warning of the need for robust frameworks on cyber policy and CERT-to-CERT cooperation.

India and Singapore also committed to step up cooperation on green hydrogen and ammonia production, urban water management, civil nuclear cooperation, and climate change frameworks under the Paris Agreement. Both countries will deepen work together in multilateral groupings such as the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuels Alliance, in which Singapore is already an active member.

Connectivity was addressed with an eye to both shipping and aviation. Both countries will set up a green and digital shipping corridor linking Singapore to Indian ports, building toward a green maritime fuel corridor.

In aviation, both sides agreed to explore expanding the bilateral Air Services Agreement in light of rising travel demand, while also cooperating in maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities and airport development. The promotion of sustainable aviation fuels will underpin these discussions.

Healthcare and medicine formed another track of the roadmap. Both governments will convene regular working groups to drive cooperation on digital health, disease surveillance, maternal and child health, and nutrition, with an emphasis on collaborative research and regulatory facilitation.

Nursing skills development was singled out as a priority, building on ongoing projects under the Singapore–Assam MoU, and joint research in medical technologies will be supported.

The people-to-people dimension, often described as the bedrock of India–Singapore ties, was given renewed emphasis. Leaders committed to strengthening social and cultural linkages, promoting student exchanges, and facilitating internships.

Programs under the Singapore–India Partnership Foundation and the India Ready Talent initiative will be expanded, while public service exchanges at senior levels will continue. Think tanks, universities, and cultural groups will be encouraged to deepen exchanges, and parliamentary and consular dialogues will be regularized.

Security cooperation

Defense and security ties, already close, will be advanced further. The roadmap called for continued military exercises in various formats, cooperation on defense technology in areas such as quantum computing and unmanned systems, and enhanced collaboration on maritime security, including submarine rescue operations.

Information-sharing between India’s and Singapore’s fusion centres will be expanded to bolster maritime domain awareness. Singapore also acknowledged India’s interest in the Malacca Straits Patrol, a sensitive corridor critical for regional energy security. Both sides reaffirmed zero tolerance for terrorism, pledging to deepen cooperation through bilateral mechanisms, multilateral forums, and the Financial Action Task Force.

The leaders agreed to institutionalize the India–Singapore Ministerial Roundtable as the foremost mechanism to monitor progress on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, underscoring a determination to translate promises into measurable action.

India’s economy is expected to remain one of the fastest growing in the world this year, making it an attractive partner for Singaporean investors. At the same time, global economic turbulence, supply chain disruptions, and climate pressures are driving small states like Singapore to diversify partnerships.

The Indo-Pacific security environment, marked by rising tensions in the South China Sea and growing competition between the US and China, has also made alignment with India more valuable for Singapore.