India PM holds talks with Singapore PM, seeks greater investments

Singapore, Nov 20 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited greater investments from Singapore, describing the city-state as a "valued partner" for India's ambitious plans for infrastructure development which requires about one trillion dollars over five years. Singh, who is here on a two-day visit, made the strong pitch for investments as he held talks with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on ways to boost the ties in a wide range of areas, including security and defence cooperation. Lee extended his country's support to India's permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council. "Our government places the highest priority on our relations with Singapore. Ours is a partnership that stands on the foundation of shared values of pluralism, secularism and democracy, and convergence of our perspectives on regional and international issues," Singh said at a luncheon hosted by Lee. "Singapore has emerged as a valued partner for our ambitious plans for infrastructure development. It is India's largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN," he said, adding "We welcome greater investment and technology flows from Singapore." Singh discussed the issue of investments during his talks with Lee prior to the lunch, highlighting how India requires greater funds to develop its infrastructure and other sectors. The government has estimated that USD one trillion would be required only for infrastructure development over a five-year period. Singapore's foreign direct investment in India is the second largest with the cumulative FDI being USD 14 billion, India's High Commissioner here T C A Raghavan said. Sources said India wants Singapore's FDI to be raised substantially considering the fact that its investments in China are eight times more. The India-Singapore bilateral trade stood at USD 17 billion last year with Indian exports accounting for about USD 10 billion. A Singaporean firm is already in collaboration with a company in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in a 1,000 MW thermal power plant. On the eve of Singh's visit here, India and Singapore concluded two MoUs for cultural exchange programme and training of Indian civil servants in urban development in Singapore. Singh recalled that it was the opening of India's relations with Singapore in 1990s which led to a strategic shift in India's foreign and economic policies and which today have evolved into the country's 'Look East' policy. "Singapore opened new horizons for India," he said and added that India regards the Singapore Prime Minister as "an ardent advocate and supporter of our strong partnership". Singh, who was instrumental in pushing the bilateral relations after he became the Prime Minister, noted that it was during Lee's visit to India in 2005 that the two countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. "That Agreement has led to a qualitative upgradation of our trade and investment relations with Singapore," he said. PTI Caption for pic: Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Lee Hsien Loong with their wives in Singapore on Sunday. PTI Photo