PM Modi embarks on three-day visit to Brunei, Singapore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday embarked on a three-day visit to Brunei Darussalam and Singapore between 3-5 September.

This will be the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to Brunei, while Modi will be visiting Singapore after a gap of nearly six years.

India and Brunei are marking 40 years of their diplomatic relations, and Modi is visiting the tiny Southeast Asian nation at the invitation of its ruler, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

On Wednesday, Modi will travel to Singapore at the invitation of Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

“I look forward to the opportunity to meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, senior minister Lee Hsien Loong and emeritus senior minister Goh Chok Tong,” Modi said in a statement before his departure to the two nations. “I will also meet with leaders of the Singapore’s vibrant business community.”

India and Singapore had last week concluded their bilateral ministerial roundtable, a forum between ministers in diverse areas.

Modi’s visit to Singapore is significant from the point of view of trade and investment, as the city-state is India’s largest trade partner in the Asean grouping and a leading source of foreign direct investment.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is a regional organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

Singapore is India’s sixth-largest trade partner worldwide and the largest source of foreign direct investment in the past fiscal year.

Singaporean investments have also been enormous since 2000. Till now, India has had a cumulative FDI of about $160 billion, added Mazumdar.

In his statement, Modi said that he is looking forward to deepening strategic partnership with Singapore, particularly in new and emerging areas of advanced manufacturing, digitalization, and sustainable development.

Expressing confidence that his two-country visit will further strengthen India’s partnership with Brunei, Singapore, and the larger Asean region, he added that Brunei and Singapore are essential partners in our Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific Vision.

At a press conference, secretary-East Jaideep Mazumdar said Modi’s visit to Brunei coincides with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Sultan Haji made state visits to India in 1992 and 2008, and also attended the Asean India commemorative summits in 2012 and 2018.

He was also among the chief guests for the Republic Day in January 2018, along with the leaders of the nine other Asean countries.

Mazumdar said India shares a warm and friendly relationship with Brunei, and the country’s engagements cover multiple areas such as defence, trade and investment, energy, space technology, health, capacity b building, culture, and vibrant people-to-people exchanges.

The Indian diaspora in Brunei numbers about 14,000, and they comprise doctors and teachers, who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei’s economy and society.

He added that India has received valuable support from Brunei in the space program. India has signed three MoUs with Brunei in this area.

The country established a telemetry, tracking, and command station in Brunei in 2000 that tracks and monitors all eastward satellite launches and satellite launch vehicles. Defense is another important pillar in bilateral cooperation with Brunei.

He said India has an MoU on defense, signed in 2016 and since renewed in 2021. This MoU provides a framework for collaboration between countries that covers regular exchanges at high levels, naval and Coast Guard ship exchange visits, training and joint exercises, and participation in each other’s exhibitions.

Muzumdar added that both countries are also working towards establishing a joint working group for defense cooperation.

Mazumdar said India-Singapore ties have evolved, and both countries have a dynamic strategic partnership encompassing diverse areas, including shared history and people-to-people relations.

He added that India-Singapore trade and investment flows had shown steady growth, and both countries have robust defense cooperation and growing exchanges in culture and education.

Modi’s visit will also coincide with the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, “which we celebrate in 2025, and the 10th year of our strategic partnership with Singapore,” Mazumdar said.