INDIA-SINGAPORE TIES

Latest Context

Recently, the Union Education Minister of India travelled to Singapore for three days with the intention of fostering current relationships and examining opportunities for expanding bilateral engagement in education and skill development.

Key Highlights of the Meeting

• The Union Education Minister visited Spectra Secondary School and met with several important Singaporean government ministers.
• It includes a fruitful discussion with Singapore's DPM and Finance Minister to discuss enhancing collaboration and emphasising skill development.
• The focus of the discussion was on developing possibilities for lifelong learning, developing a workforce prepared for the future, and establishing knowledge and skill development as a crucial tenet of strategic collaboration.
• The minister emphasised the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which places a strong emphasis on vocational education, training that is relevant to the job market, and the integration of a skills credentials framework with a higher education qualification framework.
• The Minister emphasised the need of adapting Singapore's best practises to India's requirements through collaboration.

How are relations between India and Singapore?

• India and Singapore have long-standing relations that have their roots in mutually beneficial trade, cultural exchanges, and human interactions.
• Sir Stamford Raffles, who in 1819 founded a trade post in Singapore along the Straits of Malacca and later made it a royal colony that was ruled from Kolkata until 1867, is credited with forging the more contemporary connection.
• In 1965, India was among the first nations to recognise Singapore after its independence.

Trade and Economic Cooperation:

• One of India's top ASEAN trading and investment partners, Singapore accounted for 27.3% of our total trade with ASEAN in the years 2021–2022.
• Singapore is also the country from which most FDI flows into India.
• Singapore has invested roughly 136.653 billion into India over the past 20 years, which makes up almost 23% of all FDI inflows.
• India and Singapore signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in 2005.
• The India-Singapore Business Forum and the India-Singapore CEOs Forum are only two examples of the numerous trade and investment promotion projects that India and Singapore have worked on together.
• In order to facilitate quicker remittances between the two nations, Singapore's PayNow and India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) were recently connected.

Defence and Security Cooperation:

• Both nations have similar concerns about Indo-Pacific maritime security and regional stability.
• On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the start of diplomatic ties, they upgraded their partnership to a strategic one in 2015.
• In order to strengthen its defence connections, they have also signed a number of agreements, including the Naval Cooperation Agreement (2017) and the Defence Cooperation Agreement (2003).

Military Exercises:

1. Navy: SIMBEX
2. Air Force: SINDEX
3. Army: Bold Kurukshetra

Education, Science and Technology Cooperation:

• The DST-CII India-Singapore Technology Summit's 28th edition took place in February 2022.
• In the areas of AI, IoT, fintech, healthcare, biotech, green mobility, logistic and supply chain solutions, smart manufacturing, and sustainable urban development, it emphasised partnership between India and Singapore.
• In 2011, ISRO also launched the first microsatellite made in Singapore.
• Singapore is considering working with India to develop public digital infrastructure along the lines of a system for a national identification, similar to Aadhaar.
• 'Proxtera', a worldwide digital hub for MSME ecosystems, and India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) might be combined, offering even another option.

Cultural and People-to-People Ties:

• Both nations have a long history of language similarity, religious peace, and cultural variety.
• Of Singapore's 3.9 million residents, or 9.1%, or around 3.5 lakh, are of Indian ethnicity. They have made a substantial contribution to Singapore's economic growth, social structure, and cultural variety.
• The 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India Partnership was celebrated during the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) with the theme "Ancient Route, New Journey" from January 6-7, 2018 in Singapore.

Cooperation in Infrastructure Development:

• India's objectives of sustainable development and the creation of smart cities are aligned with Singapore's capabilities in infrastructure development, smart cities, and urban planning.
• Construction of industrial parks, airports, and urban infrastructure have all been aggressively undertaken in India by Singaporean businesses.

 

 

Q. Consider the following pairs: (2009)

Organization Location of Headquarters

1. Asian Development: Tokyo Bank

2. Asia-Pacific: Singapore Economic Cooperation

3. Association of South East Asian Nations: Bangkok

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

Ans: (b)

Q. What is the correct sequence of occurrence of the following cities in South-East Asia as one proceeds from south to north? (2014)

1.Bangkok

2.Hanoi

3.Jakarta

4.Singapore

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 4 – 2 – 1 – 3

(b) 3 – 2 – 4 – 1

(c) 3 – 4 – 1 – 2

(d) 4 – 3 – 2 – 1

Ans: (c)

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