Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed in Singapore after winding up discussions in Brunei with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Key takeaways from Brunei:
With an eye on China, the joint statement said “Both leaders reiterated their commitment to promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, as well as respecting freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce, consistent with international law, notably UNCLOS.”
Given Brunei’s generally “silent treatment” of China’s aggressive behaviour and unlawful actions in the South China Sea, this must rank as an important point.
The two countries have renewed the MoU through which ISRO has operated a telemetry tracking and command station for the last 24 years. The station in Brunei is one of eight that help ISRO monitor all satellite and launch vehicle missions.
Defence is another area where Modi and the Sultan have agreed to take forward with joint exercises. India provides considerable training facilities for Brunei’s military. These are likely to be expanded after Wednesday’s talks.
Incidentally, Brunei-India have announced an “Enhanced Partnership”, meaning they will now jointly explore areas where they can cooperate and collaborate in the strategic realm.
On to Singapore. The visit is happening on the back of the postponement of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand. So it’s not clear whether Singapore got tagged onto Brunei or vice versa to lend more “meat” to the visit.
But since Modi is now in Singapore, it suggests the island’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, will probably come to India next year to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations.
Key outcomes of the current visit will be known in detail on Thursday, but the discussions between Modi and newly inaugurated Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, could focus on the regional situation.
Singapore is wary of getting involved or commenting on the SCS situation. They are too dependent on the China trade. In any case they have no territorial claims there. But a perspective from Singapore is always useful.
Singapore may renew its view that India should join RCEP. This would help them balance China. But India has its own interests to look out for.
India is expected to renew its demand for a discussion on its FTA with Asean. This has not happened despite repeated requests. India is convinced Chinese goods are coming in through Asean because of obscure rules of origin.
Ultimately, Singapore is about business. Sources said Singapore is known to be concerned about the lower returns on its investments in China and it hopes to funnel more to India.
Two government-controlled firms are key players here. One is Temasek, an investment firm with a portfolio of nearly $400 billion. The other is GIC, the sovereign wealth fund which has a reported trillion dollars to manage and profitably invest.
Sources told Stratnewsglobal that the island nation is keen on investing in India’s fledgling semiconductor industry.
It is interested in expanding its aviation MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) business and is looking for hangar space in India. While high end work would stay in Singapore, lower end engineering jobs could be diverted to India.
Singapore is also reported to be looking to increase its investment in Air India with a seat on the board, now that their stake in Vistara is getting diluted due to the merger with Air India.
There is renewed interest in the state of Telangana where Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is keen on reviving the Amravati capital project. If it happens early in his tenure, there’s a good chance Singapore companies will come.
India is particularly interested in bringing Singapore’s success in working closely with industry to train workers. There are already a number of skill centres and Delhi is keen on having more.
Talks could cover a Food Corridor. During Covid many southeast Asian countries stopped the flow of food to Singapore. A Food Corridor would give assurance and firms there are also looking at contract farming in India.
