Singapore opened new horizons for India: PM

Singapore, Nov 20 (IANS)

Singapore had opened new horizons for India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Sunday and recalled that it was New Delhi's engagement with Singapore that led to a strategic shift and evolved into the 'Look East' policy.

Addressing a gathering at a lunch hosted by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Manmohan Singh said: "It was the opening of our relations with Singapore which led to a strategic shift in India's foreign and economic policies and which today have evolved into our 'Look East' policy. Singapore opened new horizons for India."

Inviting his Singaporean counterpart to come to India to see the manner in which it had contributed to the country's progress, Manmohan Singh said: "That Agreement has led to a qualitative upgradation of our trade and investment 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."

"Singapore's rapid transformation and economic growth model is a beacon of hope in the uncertain world we live in today. You serve as an example not only for Asia but for the world at large," Manmohan Singh said about island nation, which is India's largest trade and investment partner in the ASEAN region.

Trade turnover between the two countries is on an upward trajectory and is expected to go up from $17 billion in 2010-11 to $20 billion in the next year. Singapore is also India's largest FDI investor because of CECA.

Referring to people to people exchanges, tourism and the revolution in connectivity, he noted that 11 Indian cities are directly connected by air to Singapore.

According to Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan, there are about 40-45 flights a day from India to Singapore.

The prime minister made a specific reference to the "warm welcome" that thousands of Indians working and studying in Singapore had received.

An estimated 3,800 "Indian" companies have registered their presence here.