The ministerial roundtable is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India–Singapore bilateral relations
The 2nd round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable will be held in Singapore on (Monday) August 26, 2024, taking forward a process that seeks to identify new areas of cooperation while building upon the existing bilateral partnership.
 
India will be represented by Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
 
Announcing the meeting on Saturday (August 24, 2024), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Ministers will interact with their counterparts and will also call on Singaporean leadership.
 
ISMR is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India–Singapore bilateral relations. Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022. This 2nd meeting will enable both sides to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it, the MEA pointed out. 
 
During the 1st India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, the focus on emerging areas such as Digital Connectivity, Fintech, Green Economy, Green Hydrogen, Skill Development and Food Security provided an ambitious roadmap for further enhancement of the Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore.
 
India-Singapore Strategic Partnership 
India and Singapore enjoy a historical relationship which was elevated to a Strategic Partnership in November 2015 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation.
 
In 2023, India under its G20 Presidency invited Singapore as a guest country. Both sides had several minister-level discussions on the sidelines of the official G20 engagements. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited New Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit on September 9-10, 2023.
 
EAM Jaishankar later visited Singapore from October 18-21, 2024, for high-level discussions to further deepen the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
 
Robust Trade & Investment Ties
Bilateral business and commercial linkages constitute key drivers of the wide-ranging India-Singapore partnership.
 
Singapore has been a major source of Foreign Direct Investment for India. According to official data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Singapore was the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India in 2023-24, with an estimated USD11.77 billion in inflows. The cumulative inflow of FDI from Singapore from April 2000 to March 2024 is around USD159.94 billion. 
 
Top sectors attracting FDI Equity inflows from Singapore are the services sector, computer software, hardware, trading, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals.
 
When it comes to bilateral trade, Singapore was the 6th largest global trade partner of India in 2023-24 with a total trade of USD35.61 billion which accounts approximately 29% of India’s total trade with ASEAN.