“Singapore has always been a source of foreign direct investment for India and also investments in foreign countries. It has also been a favourite destination for Indian investments abroad,” asserted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a joint press briefing along with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong.
“I am happy to note that Indian companies use Singapore as a springboard for not only this country but for the entire ASEAN region. For Singaporean companies, as India progress and develops, opportunities are coming up,” he added.
PM Modi expressed content over the successful conclusion of second review of comprehensive economic cooperation agreement and the international launch of RuPay, BHIM and UPI based remittance app in Singapore.
“The Rupay, BHIM and UPI-based remittance app shows the spirit of innovation of international launch Digital India and our partnership yesterday evening in Singapore,” said the Indian PM.
Reflecting on the naval relations between the two countries, he said, “India and Singapore have had a long-term naval cooperation, I welcome the completion of a logistics agreement between the navies of our countries.”
Giving impetus on the fighting extremism and terrorism, PM Modi said, “ In the coming times, dealing with cyber security and extremism and terrorism will be important areas of our cooperation.”
“We also agreed for a peaceful, open, and friendly maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
“The air traffic between India and Singapore is growing rapidly and both countries will work on the air traffic agreement,” said PM Modi.
While addressing the joint press conference, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong laid stress on the naval cooperation between the two countries.
“Our defence ties have strengthened, our navies have signed an agreement today on logistics cooperation and will also celebrate 25th anniversary of annual Singapore-India maritime bilateral exercise this year,” said PM Lee.
While speaking about the launch of the latest Indian digital payment system, PM Lee said, “We have launched initial link for our payment systems NETS and RuPay. Indian tourists will be able to use their RuPay cards for electronic payments at Changi airport and selected operators across Singapore.”