Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at lunch hosted by the Prime Minister of Singapore

"I thank you for the warm hospitality with which my wife and I have been received in Singapore.

Excellency, we in India regard you as an ardent advocate and supporter of our strong partnership. It was during your visit to India in 2005 that we signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Singapore. That Agreement has led to a qualitative upgradation of our trade and investment relations with Singapore.

I look forward to your visit to India next year. This will give you an opportunity to see for yourself the developments that have taken place in India in the last several years, and the manner in which Singapore has contributed to India's progress.

Excellency, 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.

It was the opening of our relations with Singapore which led to a strategic shift in India's foreign and economic polices and which today have evolved into our 'Look East' policy. Singapore opened new horizons for India.

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. Your investments in human resources, education and infrastructure are examples worthy of emulation.

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. We welcome greater investment and technology flows from Singapore.

Our people to people exchanges, tourism and the revolution in connectivity has brought us closer to each other than we have ever been.

Today, eleven Indian cities are directly connected by air to Singapore. I am greatly encouraged to see the linkages being established between our Museums and Universities. Singapore's consistent support to the Nalanda University Project is a matter of great encouragement for us. I would also like to thank you for the warm welcome that has been given to thousands of Indians working and studying in Singapore.

Our relations also encompass political, security and defence cooperation. We value our engagement with Singapore in these areas.

Next year, we will observe twenty years of full dialogue partnership between India and the ASEAN. We look forward to working closely with Singapore to commemorate these twenty years, and to evolve an even more ambitious roadmap for the period ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I request you to join me in raising a toast to:

- The health and happiness of Prime Minister Lee and Mrs. Lee,

- The progress and prosperity of our two countries, and

- The deepening friendship between India and Singapore."