India, Singapore ink 10 MoUs to enhance cooperation in key areas
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, exchanging MoUs post the signing ceremony, in Istana, Singapore on TuesdayIndia and Singapore on Tuesday signed 10 agreements in the areas ranging from defence cooperation and civil aviation to urban planning and governance. With their agreement in defence sector, the two countries look to enhance cooperation between their defence industries and identify areas of co-production and co-development of defence equipment. They also aim to undertake regular joint exercises between their armed forces and conduct defence ministers’ dialogue. Singapore also expressed willingness to be a part of India’s developmental goals through ‘Make in India’ campaign as the former looks to jointly manufacture defence equipment in India. The MoU in the area of civil aviation will enable the two countries to cooperate in several areas of civil aviation services and airport management, starting with Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports. The agreement aims to enhance connectivity through the expansion of air links, which is aimed at promoting trade and investments in the region. An MoU was also signed between India’s Town and Country Planning Organisation and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise to participate in infrastructure projects such as urban planning and management. The development came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed his desire of more Singaporean involvement in India’s infrastructure projects. The two sides have also agreed to further their bilateral relation, cooperating in the areas of arts, heritage, archives and library, operationalising the existing technical agreement on sharing white shipping and cooperating in cyber security with the SingCERT (Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team) and CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team). The agreements were inked during Modi’s two-day visit to Singapore at the invitation of the Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. At present, bilateral trade between India and Singapore is estimated to be around $19.27 billion. India’s exports to Singapore include mineral oil, petroleum, transport equipment, jewellery, rice, and electronics. Major products imported from Singapore are mineral oil, petroleum products, and electronic goods. Singapore was the second largest source of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into India in 2013-14, bringing in $5.98 billion, about 25% of the total FDI inflows in that year.
November 24, 2015 | 1:28pm IST.
to success.