President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong greeted Indian leaders as the country celebrated Republic Day on Friday (January 26, 2024) and wished to further strengthen ties between the two nations.
In a letter sent to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, President Shanmugaratnam said: “On behalf of the people of Singapore, I extend my warmest congratulations to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of India on the auspicious occasion of India’s 75th Republic Day.”
“Singapore and India share a long and warm partnership, underpinned by close people-to-people ties and strong cooperation in a multitude of fields,” the letter read.
The Singaporean President congratulated India for the successful conclusion of India’s G20 Presidency.
“As Country Coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, Singapore also co-hosted the inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise with India in May 2023. This reflected the deeper engagement both sides have enjoyed under the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which was upgraded in 2022,” the letter said.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you to further strengthen ties between our two countries,” the President said.
In his letter, Tharman Shanmugaratnam ‘fondly’ recalled his visit to India in 2022 and 2023.
In his letter addressed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PM Loong said: “You will be pleased to know that the PayNow-Unified Payments Interface linkage that we jointly launched in February 2023 has seen a steady uptake of users. This has made cross-border transactions safer and faster for businesses and individuals on both sides.”
He said he is looking forward to working with Modi to further deepen and strengthen Singapore-India relations.
On February 21, last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong launched the real-time payments system linkage between India and Singapore.
What is Republic Day?
India celebrates Republic Day to mark the adoption of the country’s constitution and the transition to a republic.