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Step up engagement with ASEAN: Singapore

P. S. Suryanarayana

— Photo: AP

SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore on Wednesday.

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday “encouraged” India to sustain its engagement with East Asia, including the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), in a manner that would “bring even more mutual benefits.” Singapore is a founding member of the ASEAN. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who called on Mr. Lee, reciprocated the sentiment.

And, they agreed to encourage a greater flow of two-way investments into India and the City-State, according to the authorities here.

Mr. Mukherjee, it was noted, placed Singapore at the heart of India’s “Look East” policy.

India’s High Commissioner to Singapore S. Jaishankar said a prime theme was building of stronger bilateral relations in the context of developments since the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2005.

Ways to step up India’s interactions with its East Asia Summit partners, besides the ASEAN, also came into focus.Before concluding a three-day visit to Singapore, Mr. Mukherjee called on elder-statesman Lee Kuan Yew, and launched the India Business Forum (IBF).

During the day, the formation of another new outfit, the “India-Singapore CEO Forum,” comprising select chief executive officers in the corporate sector, was also announced. The CII, the Singapore Business Federation, and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore will constitute the joint secretariat of the CEO Forum..

The IBF, promoted by the CII as a professional entity for and by Singapore-based Indian corporate players, is designed to promote their cause by liaising with the governments on both sides.

The CEO Forum’s mandate is to make recommendations to the two governments for enhancing bilateral ties.

Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang commended the IBF as a symbol of the City-State’s “special friendship” with India, while Mr. Mukherjee hailed the forum as an aspect of the emergence of “entrepreneurial India.” It was also announced that the India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue would be co-chaired by diplomats S.K. Lambah and Tommy Koh.

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