World News | Singapore 'springboard' for India's ASEAN Strategy: Envoy

Singapore, Aug 15 (PTI) The political leadership of India and Singapore is "closely aligned in its thinking" and the city-state is a "springboard" for New Delhi's ASEAN strategy, the Indian envoy here said on Sunday.

Addressing the virtual celebration of India's 75th Independence Day, High Commissioner P Kumaran said Singapore and India have a remarkable historical connection and continue to be closely linked in many areas.

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"There are nearly 30 regular bilateral mechanism, dialogues and exercises (between the two countries)...Our political leadership is closely aligned in its thinking, as we look at Singapore as a springboard for our ASEAN strategy and work closely to enhance our trade and investment partnership," he said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.

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The member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

Kumaran said there is a great convergence on a broad range of international issues, and both India and Singapore are members of a number of forums such as the East Asia Summit, Commonwealth, Indian Ocean Rim Association and Indian Ocean Naval Symposium.

"Trade and economic ties between Singapore and India are extensive and growing," he said at India@75 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

Singapore's financial hub status, high levels of success in developing vocational skills and knowledge of the 10-member nation ASEAN market, combined with India's long-term growth prospects, land availability, and a large and young workforce willing to work at affordable wage offers complementarity that can be exploited for mutual benefits, the envoy said.

"In addition, there are a number of areas such as research and innovation, startups, fintech, artificial intelligence, logistics, pharmaceuticals and vaccines that offer huge opportunities for partnership. We hope to pursue as many of these as possible in the coming months and years," Kumaran said.

The ASEAN region along with India together comprises a combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion.

At the start of the event, Kumaran hoisted the Indian national flag and read President Ram Nath Kovind's Independence Day message to the Nation at the High Commission.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)