India and Singapore will launch a new mechanism headed by their ministers of foreign affairs, finance and trade to enhance economic cooperation and to identify new areas for collaboration during Singapore deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong’s visit to the country beginning Saturday.
Wong, who also holds the finance portfolio, was in June named by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as his new deputy, paving the way for him to become the city state’s next leader. However, there is still no clear time frame for a change in leadership in the ruling People’s Action Party.
A delegation that includes Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, trade and industry minister Gan Kim Yong and minister-in-charge of trade relations S Iswaran accompanied Wong for his five-day visit to India. This will be Wong’s first official visit to India in his capacity as deputy prime minister.
Wong and the other ministers joined external affairs minister S Jaishankar, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the maiden India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) on Saturday.
The ISMR is a new ministerial platform between the two countries that seeks to deepen existing cooperation and identify opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration in new and emerging areas, according to a statement from the Singapore Prime Minister’s Office.
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