India and Singapore Leaders Meet to Strengthen Ties in Digital, Healthcare, and More
On August 26, Indian ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw participated in the second India-Singapore Ministerial Dialogue (ISMR). The event took place in Singapore and focused on cooperation in various fields such as digital, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity, and advanced manufacturing.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed gratitude to Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Foreign Minister Vivian Bala, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam SC, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng, and Minister for Trade Chee Hong Tat for their dedication to strengthening the relationship between the two nations.
Jaishankar shared on social media, “A productive 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable today. We explored cooperation in digital, skill development, sustainability, healthcare, connectivity, and advanced manufacturing. Thank DPM Gan Kim Yong, FM @VivianBala, Home Affairs & Law Minister @kshanmugam, Digital Development and Information Minister @joteo_ylm, Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng and Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat for their commitment to deepening our relationship. ISMR enables the emergence of a more contemporary partnership.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) highlighted that ISMR is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India-Singapore bilateral relations. The inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022. This meeting aimed to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Jaishankar valued Shanmugaratnam’s guidance on advancing the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership. He also called on Singapore PM Lawrence Wong and appreciated Wong’s engagement in the round table.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met former Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President T Raja Kumar in Singapore. They discussed the strong partnership between India and the FATF, focusing on past collaborations and future strategies. The Ministry of Finance shared, “Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met former FATF President T Raja Kumar, in Singapore, today. The Union Finance Minister congratulated Raja Kumar for completing a successful tenure as the President of FATF.”
Doubts Revealed
Nirmala Sitharaman -: Nirmala Sitharaman is an important leader in India. She is the Finance Minister, which means she takes care of the country’s money matters.
S Jaishankar -: S Jaishankar is another important leader in India. He is the External Affairs Minister, which means he handles India’s relationships with other countries.
Piyush Goyal -: Piyush Goyal is a leader in India who works on trade and industry matters. He helps make sure that businesses in India can grow and trade with other countries.
Ashwini Vaishnaw -: Ashwini Vaishnaw is a leader in India who works on technology and railways. He helps improve India’s digital services and train systems.
India-Singapore Ministerial Dialogue -: This is a meeting where leaders from India and Singapore talk about how they can work together better. They discuss important topics like technology, healthcare, and education.
Digital -: Digital means anything related to computers and the internet. In this context, it means how India and Singapore can work together to improve technology and online services.
Skill development -: Skill development means teaching people new skills so they can get better jobs. India and Singapore want to help each other train their people to be more skilled.
Sustainability -: Sustainability means taking care of the environment so that future generations can also enjoy it. India and Singapore are discussing how to be more eco-friendly.
Connectivity -: Connectivity means how well different places are linked together. This can be through the internet, roads, or other means of communication.
Advanced manufacturing -: Advanced manufacturing means using new technologies to make things in a better and faster way. India and Singapore want to share ideas on how to improve their factories.
Strategic Partnership -: A Strategic Partnership is a special relationship between two countries where they work closely together on many important issues.
FATF -: FATF stands for Financial Action Task Force. It is a group that makes rules to stop money from being used for bad things like terrorism.
T Raja Kumar -: T Raja Kumar is a person who used to be the President of FATF. He is important because he knows a lot about keeping money safe from bad uses.