India Singapore Relations
India Singapore Political Relations
India and Singapore have a cordial relations and bilateral relationship based on convergence of strong economic and political interests. The process of economic growth and economic reforms in India since the early 1990s created a strong basis for cooperation with Singapore, opening up possibilities for significant presence in each others’ economies. For India, Singapore has also played an important role in reconnecting us to the countries of South East Asia and beyond. As pluralistic societies, the two nations share similar concern about the challenges posed by terrorism and religious extremists and have therefore found it mutually beneficial to evolve a broad framework of security cooperation.
Singapore, led by then PM Goh Chok Tong, took a major interest in India’s economic reforms in the 1990s. He visited India in 1994 as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations. A reciprocal visit by PM Shri Narasimha Rao took place in September 1994. Continued high level interactions, including the visit of PM Vajpayee in 2002, culminated with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in June 2005 during the visit of PM Lee Hsien Loong to India. Goh Chok Tong was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 2004. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Singapore in November 2007 for the India- ASEAN and East Asia Summits.
India Singapore Framework of the Relationship:
Agreements concluded between India and Singapore reflects the breadth of cooperation between the two Governments, economies and civil societies in either country. Key agreements include the Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA (2005); Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, DTAA (1994); Bilateral Air Services Agreement (1968); the Defence Cooperation Agreement (2003); MOU on Foreign Office Consultations (1994); and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (2005). There have been regular Foreign Office Consultations since 1999. The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) is at the apex of the expanded bilateral dialogue architecture at Governmental level and is chaired at the level of External Affairs Minister. The India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue, constituted in 2007, is meant to promote exchanges at a Track- II level.
India Singapore economic Relations
4. Singapore is India’s largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN. Economic and commercial ties have expanded significantly, particularly after the conclusion of the CECA in 2005. Bilateral trade increased from S$16.6 billion (US$11.9 billion) in 2005 to a high of S$ 28.75 billion (US$ 19.6 billion) in 2008. Whilst in 2009 it reduced to S$ 21.58 billion (US$ 15.36 billion) on account of the global economic meltdown, bilateral trade recovered to S$30 billion (US$23 billion) in 2010 as Singapore’s economy registered strong recovery last year. Singapore has become a preferred centre of operations for Indian companies active in the Asia Pacific region. Combined with a good enabling environment, strong air connectivity and the presence of a large Indian community, Singapore has emerged as a key offshore logistic and financial hub for many Indian corporate/houses. India Travel by air tickets to Singapore and There are believed to be more than 3800 registered “Indian” companies in Singapore. Nine Indian banks operate in the country – Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Indian Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI, EXIM Bank and Bank of Baroda.
India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA):
Concluded in June 2005, the CECA with Singapore was the first such agreement to be signed by India with
any country. It integrates agreements on trade in goods and services, investment protection, and economic cooperation in fields like education, intellectual property and science & technology. It also provides Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) that eliminates duplicative testing and certification of products in sectors where there are mandatory technical requirements. The implementation of CECA is to be periodically reviewed by the two Governments and the closure of the 1st Review was announced on 1 October 2007. The 2nd Review was formally launched in May 2010 and the first meeting of the 2nd Review was held in August 2010 in Singapore.
Bilateral Investments: Since the early 1990s, Singaporean companies have been active in India’s equity market as FIIs, and the trend has gathered momentum in recent years. There are around 80 FIIs from Singapore which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Singapore has also emerged as one of the largest source of FDI inflow into India amounting to US $ 11.329 billion during the period April 2000 to September 2010. This accounts for 9.46 % of total FDI inflow to India. As per Singapore Government statistics, Indian FDI in Singapore for the year 2008 was S $ 11.2
billion (US $ 8.01 billion).
India Singapore Cultural Relations
Given the large and diverse Indian community in Singapore, cultural activities receive considerable support from the Singapore Government and community organizations. A number of cultural societies (i.e., Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Nrityalaya, Kalamandir), promote Indian classical dance and arts. The local ethos is supportive of its constituent communities expressing their cultural creativity and Deepawali is regarded as the premier Indian cultural celebration, on par with Chinese New Year and the Malay Hari Raya.
CONSULAR
India introduced a visa requirement for Singapore citizens in 1984 for security reasons, Singapore followed suit in 1985. In 2010, the High Commission provided 1, 48,672 consular services including issue of 81,156 visas and 31,837 passports. To facilitate bonafide foreign tourists the GOI introduced “Tourist Visa-on Arrival” in 2010 for citizens of five countries, i.e. Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Finland and Luxemburg.
Indians in Singapore
The ethnic Indians constitute about 9.2 % of the total population of 5.1 million, including permanent residents. Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore. The growth of the community has also led to the establishment of educational institutions including the Global Indian International School, Delhi Public School, National Public School, Yuvah Bharati International School, DAV School and S.P. Jain Centre of Management.
India and Singapore have a cordial relations and bilateral relationship based on convergence of strong economic and political interests. The process of economic growth and economic reforms in India since the early 1990s created a strong basis for cooperation with Singapore, opening up possibilities for significant presence in each others’ economies. For India, Singapore has also played an important role in reconnecting us to the countries of South East Asia and beyond. As pluralistic societies, the two nations share similar concern about the challenges posed by terrorism and religious extremists and have therefore found it mutually beneficial to evolve a broad framework of security cooperation.
Singapore, led by then PM Goh Chok Tong, took a major interest in India’s economic reforms in the 1990s. He visited India in 1994 as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations. A reciprocal visit by PM Shri Narasimha Rao took place in September 1994. Continued high level interactions, including the visit of PM Vajpayee in 2002, culminated with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in June 2005 during the visit of PM Lee Hsien Loong to India. Goh Chok Tong was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 2004. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Singapore in November 2007 for the India- ASEAN and East Asia Summits.
India Singapore Framework of the Relationship:
Agreements concluded between India and Singapore reflects the breadth of cooperation between the two Governments, economies and civil societies in either country. Key agreements include the Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA (2005); Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, DTAA (1994); Bilateral Air Services Agreement (1968); the Defence Cooperation Agreement (2003); MOU on Foreign Office Consultations (1994); and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (2005). There have been regular Foreign Office Consultations since 1999. The Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) is at the apex of the expanded bilateral dialogue architecture at Governmental level and is chaired at the level of External Affairs Minister. The India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue, constituted in 2007, is meant to promote exchanges at a Track- II level.
India Singapore economic Relations
4. Singapore is India’s largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN. Economic and commercial ties have expanded significantly, particularly after the conclusion of the CECA in 2005. Bilateral trade increased from S$16.6 billion (US$11.9 billion) in 2005 to a high of S$ 28.75 billion (US$ 19.6 billion) in 2008. Whilst in 2009 it reduced to S$ 21.58 billion (US$ 15.36 billion) on account of the global economic meltdown, bilateral trade recovered to S$30 billion (US$23 billion) in 2010 as Singapore’s economy registered strong recovery last year. Singapore has become a preferred centre of operations for Indian companies active in the Asia Pacific region. Combined with a good enabling environment, strong air connectivity and the presence of a large Indian community, Singapore has emerged as a key offshore logistic and financial hub for many Indian corporate/houses. India Travel by air tickets to Singapore and There are believed to be more than 3800 registered “Indian” companies in Singapore. Nine Indian banks operate in the country – Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Indian Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI, EXIM Bank and Bank of Baroda.
India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA):
Concluded in June 2005, the CECA with Singapore was the first such agreement to be signed by India with
any country. It integrates agreements on trade in goods and services, investment protection, and economic cooperation in fields like education, intellectual property and science & technology. It also provides Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) that eliminates duplicative testing and certification of products in sectors where there are mandatory technical requirements. The implementation of CECA is to be periodically reviewed by the two Governments and the closure of the 1st Review was announced on 1 October 2007. The 2nd Review was formally launched in May 2010 and the first meeting of the 2nd Review was held in August 2010 in Singapore.
Bilateral Investments: Since the early 1990s, Singaporean companies have been active in India’s equity market as FIIs, and the trend has gathered momentum in recent years. There are around 80 FIIs from Singapore which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Singapore has also emerged as one of the largest source of FDI inflow into India amounting to US $ 11.329 billion during the period April 2000 to September 2010. This accounts for 9.46 % of total FDI inflow to India. As per Singapore Government statistics, Indian FDI in Singapore for the year 2008 was S $ 11.2
billion (US $ 8.01 billion).
India Singapore Cultural Relations
Given the large and diverse Indian community in Singapore, cultural activities receive considerable support from the Singapore Government and community organizations. A number of cultural societies (i.e., Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Nrityalaya, Kalamandir), promote Indian classical dance and arts. The local ethos is supportive of its constituent communities expressing their cultural creativity and Deepawali is regarded as the premier Indian cultural celebration, on par with Chinese New Year and the Malay Hari Raya.
CONSULAR
India introduced a visa requirement for Singapore citizens in 1984 for security reasons, Singapore followed suit in 1985. In 2010, the High Commission provided 1, 48,672 consular services including issue of 81,156 visas and 31,837 passports. To facilitate bonafide foreign tourists the GOI introduced “Tourist Visa-on Arrival” in 2010 for citizens of five countries, i.e. Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Finland and Luxemburg.
Indians in Singapore
The ethnic Indians constitute about 9.2 % of the total population of 5.1 million, including permanent residents. Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore. The growth of the community has also led to the establishment of educational institutions including the Global Indian International School, Delhi Public School, National Public School, Yuvah Bharati International School, DAV School and S.P. Jain Centre of Management.
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