The close ties between India and Singapore — and how the two countries could be at the vanguard of global economic growth over the coming decades — were highlighted in the address delivered by former G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, who was the Guest Speaker at the First ISAS-Khattar Family Lecture, on 2 October 2025 at The St. Regis Singapore.
“As [Indian] Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his visit last year: Singapore is not merely a partner country; it serves as an inspiration for every developing nation. We aim to create multiple ‘Singapores’ within India, collaborating towards shared progress,” said Kant in his address.
With the topic ‘India’s Rise in a Fractured World: Opportunities and Challenges’, the lecture was organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore (NUS). About 100 select people attended the event.
Event host Sat Pal Khattar is the Founder and Chairman of Khattar Holdings Private Limited. He was also the founding Co-Chairman of the Singapore India Partnership Foundation.
Welcome remarks were delivered by Associate Professor Iqbal Singh Sevea, Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, NUS. Afterwards, he also chaired a discussion with the guest speaker. In the welcome remarks, Prof. Sevea referred to “Mr Lawrence Wong’s first visit to India as Singapore’s Prime Minister in early September 2025”.
This visit laid out “an ambitious and forward-looking roadmap to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries”, with focus on eight areas: economic cooperation; skills development; digitalisation; sustainability; connectivity; healthcare; cultural exchanges; and defence co-operation.
Prof. Sevea also expressed “sincere gratitude to Mr Sat Pal Khattar and his family for their generous support”. The Khattar Family sponsorship, he said, “will enable ISAS to host this lecture annually for the next six years, featuring eminent voices from across the region and the world”.
From fragile to fastest-growing
A significant part of the lecture by Amitabh Kant, who is also the former CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (better known as NITI Aayog), was focused on digitalisation and related technology such as Artificial Intelligence and their role as drivers of economic growth.
He emphasised in his lecture that “a decade ago, India was counted among the ‘Fragile Five’” and now “India has emerged as the 4th largest economy of the world and the fastest-growing large economy”. And this transformation had taken place “despite a slowdown in global economic growth”.
Kant said, “India’s growth last year was 8.2 per cent and the growth for the first quarter of FY2026 stood at 7.8 per cent, indicating that the momentum is continuing.”
At the outset of his lecture, after giving thanks to the host and the organisers, Kant spoke of South Asia being poised “to play an increasingly influential and trailblazing role on the world stage” — the factors he listed were “diversity, dynamism, and ongoing investments in education and technology”.
About what India and Singapore could achieve by working together, Kant said, “Ladies and gentlemen, delivering this lecture on India’s rise in Singapore holds special significance because besides the strong bond between our two countries, there is a lot that India — and, indeed, the world — can learn from Singapore. Singapore has long been a bridge between East and West, a hub for trade, finance and ideas.”
He continued, “Singapore stands out as a unique model, globally, because it has successfully combined world-class infrastructure with high standards of urban planning, efficient public services and a strong emphasis on quality of life. Its pioneering approach to digital governance, where technology seamlessly enables citizen services, has created a transparent and responsive system that many nations aspire to replicate.
“At the same time, its ability to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability and social harmony underscores how thoughtful governance can transform a small country into a global exemplar.”
He then referred to the statement on Singapore by PM Modi, who had visited the island nation on a state visit in early September 2024.
India stands out as a bright spot
Moving on, Kant outlined the “deeply divided” global scenario riddled with conflicts and still burdened by serious inequality, including the plight of people excluded from mainstream financial channels.
Amid the “cascading series of crises” around the world, “India stands out as a bright spot in the global geopolitical landscape”, said Kant. Then, he dived into the story of India’s transformation, powered by a strategic focus on technology and innovation.
Kant spoke in detail about India’s work on building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI); the phenomenally popular Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a true homegrown triumph; and the biometric identity system Aadhaar, which has a unique identification number.
He also spoke of India’s Jan Dhan Yojana initiative, meant to give every Indian a bank account and thereby enable direct benefit transfers under government schemes.
“Today, 1.4 billion people of India have a unique digital identity in the form of Aadhaar,” said Kant. “Every single citizen of India has a bank account. Over 800 million people have smartphones. The bank accounts are linked to their digital identities, both of which are linked to their mobile numbers, forming what is known as the ‘JAM’ (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile) trinity.”
It took work to put in place new systems, but it all paid off. “The JAM trinity fostered a new era of financial inclusion in India — one that is totally digital, secure, seamless and working in real time,” said Kant.
India at forefront of deep-tech revolution
Beyond using digitalisation for financial inclusion, “India stands at the forefront of a deep-tech revolution driven by bold missions and strategic investments designed to position the nation as a global leader in AI and quantum innovation”, said Kant.
“At the heart of this shift is the India AI Mission, launched in 2024. It is rapidly building compute infrastructure to provide access to AI computing for students, researchers, startups and the public sector,” he said.
“Through an open compute framework, it aims to democratise access to powerful processing resources that have traditionally been scarce or prohibitively expensive. It is supporting the development of national datasets and localised models, including large language models tuned to Indian languages and contexts.
“Multiple Centres of Excellence are being established to anchor research, innovation and skill development. Together, these efforts are aimed to reduce dependence on foreign compute, empower domestic innovators and lay the foundation for a tech ecosystem that aligns with India’s priorities.”
Singapore is a critical partner in India’s journey
During the course of the lecture, Kant cited predictions by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that said “over the next three decades, nearly three-fourths of global economic growth will come from emerging markets, with Asia at the forefront as the most dynamic region”.
He said, “This necessitates partnerships, such as the one between India and Singapore. Asian countries must pool their strengths, bridge gaps and create models of inclusive and sustainable growth for the world.”
The Indian development pathway had “many lessons for the Global South”, said Kant. “But we will not rise alone,” he added. Singapore, which had become “India’s largest FDI investor for the seventh year straight”, was “a critical partner in this journey”.
