The third India-Singapore Ministerial Round Table (ISMR) is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on August 13, 2025, marking a significant milestone of 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

This high-level platform, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to deepen bilateral cooperation and explore mutually beneficial collaboration in emerging areas while addressing geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges.

The event will review progress made since the last round table held in Singapore in August 2024 and focus on six key pillars: sustainability, digitalisation, skills development, healthcare and medicine, advanced manufacturing, and connectivity.

Representing Singapore will be Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade & Industry Gan Kim Yong, Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam, Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Digital Development, Manpower, and Transport.

India's delegation will include Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who oversees Electronics and IT, Railways, and Information and Broadcasting.

The meeting follows the upgrade of India-Singapore relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Singapore in September 2024 and marks the 10th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership.

It comes after high-level visits earlier in 2025, including Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s State Visit to India. Bilateral trade has grown impressively to S$52.2 billion in 2023, over 2.5 times the value in 2005, supported by the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement signed in 2005.

Singapore is India’s top foreign investor, accounting for about 24% of foreign direct investment inflows since 2000, while Indian investment in Singapore rose significantly to approximately S$31.6 billion in 2023.

Key topics to be discussed at the round table include deepening cooperation in semiconductor manufacturing through the India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership MOU, furthering digitalisation such as payment linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and India’s UPI, advancing skills training through joint flagship programs focusing on sectors like AI and aerospace, and expanding connectivity initiatives.

These include Singapore’s operation of maritime terminals in India, its stake in Air India, cooperation on maintenance facilities for aircraft, and plans for a Green and Digital Shipping Corridor to promote sustainable shipping and green fuel trade.

The ISMR continues to be a unique and evolving forum for addressing challenges while fostering mutual trust and understanding, building on decades of close diplomatic and economic relations. This third round table is expected to reinforce the strategic partnership and set a forward-looking agenda for broadening collaboration for mutual growth and prosperity.

Based On ANI Report