State Visit by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to the Republic of India, 16 January 2025

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, visited the Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, and met President of the Republic of India Droupadi Murmu, who hosted him to a State Banquet. President Tharman and President Murmu reaffirmed the warm and longstanding friendship between Singapore and India, as both countries commemorate the 60^th anniversary of diplomatic relations. They took stock of the strong bilateral economic relations and growing people-to-people ties. The Presidents also welcomed cooperation in forward-looking areas including semiconductors, industrial park development, as well as the green and digital economies.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on President Tharman. President Tharman and Prime Minister Modi welcomed the positive momentum in bilateral cooperation following the second India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) and Prime Minister Modi’s Official Visit to Singapore in 2024. They also discussed new opportunities for cooperation in tandem with the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

 

President Tharman received calls from Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Health and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary. They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation including in the key ISMR pillars, such as connectivity, health, skills development, industrial park, digitalisation, and advanced manufacturing.

 

President Tharman will visit Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 17 to 18 January, where he will meet the Chief Minister of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi and be hosted to dinner by Governor of Odisha Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati. President will also participate in an MOU exchange ceremony. He will visit the World Skills Centre which was set up by Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education Education Services (ITEES) with funding from the Asian Development Bank, and a vaccine manufacturing plant by Bharat Biotech. President Tharman will be accompanied by a business delegation to explore opportunities in areas including skills development and sustainable energy.

 

 

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

16 JANUARY 2025