Singapore Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong arrived in India on Tuesday and began the official engagements under his visit at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PM Wong’s official visit to India (September 2-4) had a colourful start — he was received in New Delhi by Indian Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, and the welcome ceremony included traditional Indian trumpets and drums.
Noted for his musical inclination, PM Wong shared a video of the first moments of his arrival in India, and set the video to a spicy Hindi song.
A PMO Singapore statement on the visit said: “Prime Minister Wong’s introductory visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Singapore-India diplomatic relations and reaffirms Singapore and India’s mutual commitment to strengthen ties.”
Among the key people he has met in India so far is Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We discussed the outcomes of the recently held 3rd India-SG Ministerial Roundtable, and our interest to collaborate on cross-border data flows and capital markets,” wrote PM Wong in an X post.
Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda was another of the top Indian politicians to meet PM Wong.
The visiting prime minister also paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat on Wednesday morning.
The PMO Singapore statement informed: “In New Delhi, Prime Minister Wong will call on President of the Republic of India Droupadi Murmu and meet Prime Minister Modi, who will host a Banquet Lunch.”
Meetings with Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar; Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan; and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval are also on PM Wong’s schedule.
One of the warmest events during this official visit is PM Wong’s meeting with overseas Singaporeans in New Delhi, at a reception to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Singapore-India diplomatic relations and Singapore’s 60th year of independence (SG60).
The Singapore delegation with PM Wong includes, as per the PMO statement, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan; Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang; and officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Transport, and Ministry of Digital Development and Information.
During PM Wong’s visit overseas, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam is the Acting Prime Minister in Singapore.
