UPSC Express

INDIA- SINGAPORE RELATIONS

• India’s connection with Singapore dates back to the Cholas who are credited with naming the island and establishing a permanent settlement.

• The close relationship shared by India and Singapore is based on convergence of economic and political interests.

• The process of economic reforms in India since the early 1990s created a strong basis for cooperation with Singapore, opening up possibilities for significant presence in each other’s economies.

• Singapore has played an important role in reconnecting us to the countries of South East Asia since the inception of our Look East Policy in the early 1990s.

Political relations

• India was among the first countries to set up diplomatic relations after the independence of Singapore on 24 August 1965.

• Singapore’s Foreign and Law Minister was the first minster from any ASEAN nation to  meet the new government.

• Former Singapore’s PM was awarded Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding in 2004.

Economic relations

• Bilateral Trade has expanded significantly from $ 12.4 million in 1980-81 to $2.18 billion in 2013-14.

• Singapore has emerged as the 2nd largest source of FDI amounting to US$ 31.9 billion (April 2000 – Feb 2015), which is 13% of total FDI inflow.

• Singapore was the largest source of FDI into India for the year 2013-14 overtaking Mauritius.

• Outward Indian FDI to Singapore increased from US $351 million in 2004-05 to US $37.4 billion (April 2015), making Singapore one of the top destinations for Indian investments.

• In June 2005, the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) was signed by India with Singapore.

• Singapore has largest air connections to India with 6 airlines flying 232 weekly services.

Cultural Relations 

• To promote inter-governmental cooperation in culture, a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Arts, Archives and Heritage was concluded in 1993.

• Given the large and diverse Indian community in Singapore, cultural activities receive considerable support from community organizations.

• A number of cultural societies, namely Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Nrityalaya, Kalamandir, among others, promote Indian classical dance and arts.

• Deepawali is regarded as the premier Indian cultural celebration.

Visa & Consular 

• India introduced a visa requirement for Singapore citizens in 1984 while Singapore introduced it in 1985.

• Tourists from Singapore are allowed ‘eTourist Visa (eTV)’ in select airports in India since 2010 on unilateral basis.

Indian Community 

• Ethnic Indians constitute about 9.1 per cent or around 3.5 lakhs of the resident population of 3.9 million in Singapore.

• Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore.

• Approximately two-thirds of the Indian community in Singapore are of Tamil origin. Punjabis, Malayalis and Sindhis are the other major Indian communities

Naval Agreements

• The bilateral agreement for naval cooperation includes:

1 Maritime security

2 Joint exercises

3 Temporary deployments from the naval facilities of each other

4 Mutual logistical support

Logistic Support

• Indian Navy will have a full-fledged logistics facility that is 2,177 km east from its nearest base at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

• This is the first such military logistics agreement with a country east of Malacca indicating a shift eastwards for the Indian Navy.

Lanes of communication

• Both Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea are the key sea lanes of communication.

• India and Singapore should increase their participation and activity in these regions.

• Indian Navy has started its Malacca patrol in June this year to protect the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs).

Choke point of commerce

• The Strait of Malacca is considered a critical choke point for global commerce.

• It is critical for the transportation of natural gas and oil.

• It is seen by China as vulnerable for its energy security.

Strait of Malacca

• It is waterway connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and South China Sea (Pacific Ocean).

• It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular Malaysia and extreme southern Thailand to the east.

• It has an area of about 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km).

• The Strait derived its name from the trading port of Melaka (formerly Malacca) which was of importance in the 16th and 17th centuries on the Malay coast.