Transcript of Special Briefing on Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei and Singapore (September 02, 2024)

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson:Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to this special briefing on Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Brunei and Singapore. We have with us Secretary East, Shri Jaideep Mazumdar and we are also joined by Shri Ashish Sinha who is Joint Secretary South, in the Ministry of External Affairs. With that I invite Secretary East to make his opening remarks and thereafter we will take questions from you. Sir, over to you.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East):Thank you Randhir and a very good morning to all of you. As you know, Prime Minister is undertaking a visit to Brunei and to Singapore. He is travelling to Brunei at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and the visit is scheduled for 3rd and 4th of September and after that he will travel to Singapore at the invitation of His Excellency Mr. Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Singapore. That visit will be over 4th and 5th of September.

Let us take up the Brunei leg first. This will be the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brunei and it coincides with the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between our two countries this year. Some of you may recall that His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid State visits to India in 1992 and in 2008 and he also attended the ASEAN India commemorative Summits in 2012 and in 2018. In the last visit he was also Chief Guest for our Republic Day along with other ASEAN leaders.

During the visit the Prime Minister will engage in bilateral discussions on all aspects of our bilateral relations and cooperation with Brunei and also explore new areas for cooperation. As you know we share a very warm and friendly relationship with Brunei and our engagements cover multiple areas such as Defence, Trade and Investment, Energy, Space technology, Health, Capacity Building, Culture and vibrant people to people exchanges. The Indian diaspora in Brunei is about 14,000 and they comprise a substantial number of doctors and teachers in Brunei who have earned goodwill and respect for their contributions to Brunei's economy and society.

We have received valuable support from Brunei in our space program. We have three MoUs with Brunei in this area. We have established a Telemetry, Tracking and Command station in Brunei in 2000 and this tracks and monitors all our eastward launches of satellites and satellite launch vehicles. Defence is another important pillar in our bilateral cooperation. We have an MoU on defence, which was signed in 2016 and has since been renewed in 2021. It provides a framework for our collaboration that covers regular exchanges at high levels, Naval and Coast Guard ship exchange visits, training and joint exercises and participation in each other's exhibitions. We are also working towards establishing a joint working group for cooperation in the area of defence.

Brunei is an important partner for India's Act East Policy and our vision for the Indo-Pacific, and as we mark a decade of our 'Act East' Policy this year, the visit assumes additional significance. Brunei has been our country coordinator in ASEAN from 2012 to 2015 and played a key role in our further engagements with ASEAN and continues to do so today.

Now let's move on to the visit to Singapore. Prime Minister is visiting Singapore after nearly six years. In fact, his last visit to Singapore was in his first term as Prime Minister and an early visit during his third term is something that is particularly welcomed by the Singaporean side; and also this is at the time when a new leader in Singapore, His Excellency Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has just taken over, and this is an opportune time to set the stage for the next stage of our vibrant bilateral relationship.

Our ties have evolved and we have a dynamic Strategic Partnership, encompassing diverse areas from our shared history and people to people ties, which form an important link between us. Our trade and investment flows have shown a steady growth. We have robust defence cooperation and growing exchanges in culture and education and we have identified new anchors of our partnership under the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable Framework.

The visit will also take place in the light of our 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations which we are celebrating in 2025 and the 10th year of our Strategic Partnership with Singapore. During the recently concluded India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable which is a very unique forum between Ministers on both sides in diverse areas, a number of new forward-looking futuristic cooperation areas were identified in Digitalization, Sustainability, Skills, Health, Advanced Manufacturing and Connectivity and we are likely to exchange a number of MoUs in these areas during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister.

From the point of trade and investment also the Prime Minister's visit to Singapore is very significant. Singapore is India's largest trade partner in ASEAN and it is a leading source of foreign direct investment. Singapore is India's sixth largest trade partner worldwide and the largest source of FDI during the last financial year. Investments have also been very large since 2000 till now we have had cumulative FDI of about 160 billion US dollars. There will be an interaction with business leaders during Prime Minister's visit and this will be an important element of the visit as the CEOs will be listening to India's growth story first hand from the Prime Minister and the opportunities that it presents for them.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to seek to respond to them, thank you.

Rishabh: Secretary, good morning, this is Rishabh from Times Now. Sir if we can get any idea where as you mentioned there are 14,000 Indian diaspora members in Brunei and Singapore also has a sizeable number of Indian diaspora, will there be any engagement with the diaspora for the Prime Minister? A, and B, are we expecting anything on semiconductors between India and Singapore given that 10% of the semiconductor business comes from Singapore?

Rishikesh Kumar: Good morning Sir, Rishikesh from PTI. So it is believed that there is a huge hydrocarbon reserve in Brunei, especially its EEZ zone, so is there any possibility of India may sign or assist Brunei in exploration of this hydrocarbon reserve as we did with Vietnam I guess?

Sidhant Sibal: Hi, Sir. Sidhant from WION. Sir, how much will there be conversation on the situation in Myanmar with the leadership in both Brunei and in Singapore?

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): This is merely a curtain raiser as you put it, so I will not go into specifics of the programme at this stage. But to say that always of course diaspora and interests of diasporas are uppermost in Prime Minister's conversations and interactions when he goes abroad, so wait and watch is what I will say.

On semiconductors, yes as you know Singapore is very well plugged into the global semiconductor ecosystem. It has experience of more than 20 years in this area. This is an area where we are very keen to get into and already we are seeing how we can cooperate with Singapore. Singapore is already setting up facilities in India and there will be many other areas of the semiconductor industry itself which will be discussed and cooperation moved forward during the visit. We expect the visit to really give thrust to this particular area in our cooperation.

On hydrocarbons, we have been importing hydrocarbons from Brunei and in the long run we would like to have more predictable supplies with longer term contracts from Brunei especially in the area of gas in which we see that our India's demand for natural gas will increase many times in the near future. So that is an opportunity for the Brunei side to lock in long term supply arrangements if they wish to do so.

On Myanmar, of course as a common member of ASEAN for both Singapore and Brunei, these discussions regarding the region will of course come up whenever there are bilateral visits. The situation in the neighborhood and neighbors often always comes up, so I expect that it will also be discussed.

Ayushi Agarwal:Sir this is Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. You mentioned about the space and defence cooperation with Brunei. So when Prime Minister visits there, can we expect any major outcome when it comes to these sectors?

Yeshi Seli: Good morning. This is Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. Can you please quantify the amount of hydrocarbons that we import from Brunei as of now and also what was the FDI from Singapore to India in the last financial year?

Siddhant Mishra: Sir, I am Siddhant from CNN News 18. Sir, my question is regarding the space sector. As you mentioned, there are already three existing MoUs in space sector between India and Brunei. Are we looking at a possibility of some big ticket announcement as Prime Minister is visiting Brunei in the space sector, and what would be the focus area for India in the space sector in Brunei? Thank you. If you could elaborate a little bit.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): To take the space sector first, we have ongoing cooperation with Brunei as I mentioned, in Telemetry, Tracking and Command and we will take this forward. As technology develops, as our requirements develop, so also the need for enhancing those capabilities in the various centers we have worldwide for our Telemetry Tracking and Command increase or change. So you will see that, I mean I don't want to jump the gun here, but you will see some discussion and outcomes from that as well, but wait and watch this space.

On hydrocarbons, I would say that in our bilateral trade of about 250 million dollars odd, about 60% to 70% is comprised of hydrocarbons, which is not a very large figure at the moment. But as I said, especially in the case of natural gas, the amount could increase significantly. In actual terms, it is about 270 million dollars worth of crude oil imports.

Regarding the figure of FDI from Singapore, we will give you the figure in a minute, but as I said, it is the largest in the whole world last year. I hope I have covered all the questions. On the defence side, we are still in discussion with Brunei on setting up a joint working group in the area of defence. So I don't have anything specific to report at this time.

Pia Krishnankutty: Sir, Pia with the Print. In 2015, India and Singapore signed Strategic Partnership and now that it is almost a decade since then. Can we expect the ties during this visit to be elevated to the level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership?

Suhasini Haidar:Secretary, this is Suhasini Haidar from the Hindu. I have two questions. One is on, the 2005 SICA with Singapore and the 2009 FTA with ASEAN, we have been reviewing them for a long while. Do you expect to see any movement on these? We know that the ASEAN-India talks in Indonesia in July, kind of discussed cutting some of India's tariff concessions on things like mobiles into India and that kind of thing, but if you could give us a sense of where India and Singapore, who really lead the ASEAN talks as well, are on this review of the FTA. And the other is, since the Prime Minister is obviously embarking on this visit to Brunei because he was earlier supposed to go to Thailand for the BIMSTEC Summit, do you think the BIMSTEC Summit that has been put off now can be rescheduled within this calendar year? Thank you.

Sudhi Ranjan: Sudhi Ranjan from Bloomberg, Sir. The Singaporean Foreign Minister after the round table kind of talked about India and Singapore trying to develop common standards for digital payments, so that other countries like Malaysia and other ASEAN countries can be brought under the umbrella. Can you give us an understanding whether talks are going to happen in this regard and how advanced are these talks? And also, Sir, we get to hear that there are four MoUs in the works including on food security and stuff like that. If you could give us an understanding on that.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East):So on the FTA, the ASEAN-India, we have a trade in goods agreement and a review on that is underway. It has been underway for some time. We are very keen that we conclude that review by 2025. Singapore is our facilitator and coordinator for discussions on the economic aspects of our relations with ASEAN and they play a very important role in that, and no doubt during the visit we will be impressing upon Singapore and also on Brunei on the need to move quickly on the AITGA review process.

As far as BIMSTEC is concerned, although this is not the subject for today's meeting, but we do expect the summit to be held whenever it is convenient for the hosts.

On carbon standards, these are aspects which are discussed at a technical level and although we do expect to have discussions on a broader cooperation in this area, but really the nitty gritties of this will be tied up at the technical level.

And on the MoUs, I will again ask you to watch this space, so you will not be disappointed.

Abhishek: Hi Sir, this is Abhishek. I am a freelance journalist. My question is regarding Singapore coming in this entire quad scheme of things, we have been collaborating on digital connectivity and other infrastructural projects also, so will that be taken up for discussion? And also in the maritime sector domain, we have seen recent skirmishes between Chinese ships and Philippines ships, so when we talk about maritime security, Singapore happens to be a close partner, so will these issues be also taken up with the leadership of Singapore?

Sumita Kareer:Hi Sir, Sumita from ET now. I have two questions. You have spoken about several sectors, but which will be the key sectors for India to deepen its partnership with Singapore, and second question is a follow-up, one on the semiconductor point that you raised. I understand that it might be difficult for you to delve a bit deeper, but what is the nature of this partnership going to be on considering that India also has a $10 billion chip subsidy scheme, we have attracted major investments from the United States last year from Micron, LAM Research and others, if you could also give us a sense of the kind of investments and expectations that India has from Singapore in this particular domain.

Ayanangsha Maitra: Sir, this is Ayanangsha Maitra, an independent journalist. In the first lack of visit, Prime Minister will be in Brunei, which is known for a hedge diplomacy and quite comfortable to China. Will we expect any (inaudible) announcement in the areas, in the arenas of port, textile and fertilizer? Secondly, Sir you mentioned the round table, the Ministerial round table, if you kindly elaborate the framework of the round table, how different it is and if it's a unique template for any country. Thank you, sir.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Thank you for those questions.

On maritime security and safety, of course you know India's position on the South China Sea. In the case of Singapore as well, it is important for them to maintain sea lines of communication that are safe, secure, free. So we have congruence of views on that and no doubt such issues will be discussed. I can't say to what degree it will be discussed but these are issues that are important for all of our countries in the region and therefore I have no doubt that they will be discussed.

On the area of semiconductors, the area of semiconductors is very wide and we are embarking upon a relationship with Singapore, which has experience and expertise in a wide range of areas within that ecosystem of semiconductor, whether it be in semiconductor design, whether in fabrication, whether in testing, whether in manufacture of equipment that are used for fabricating semiconductors. So this entire ecosystem is what we are discussing between the two of us and how we can cooperate in that.

As far as the ISMR framework is concerned, it is rather unique because we really don't have such a round table system with any other country where independent of a summit level interaction we have on our side, this time we had four ministers and on the Singaporean side six ministers who sat down and discussed all the new thrust areas that we can identify for our bilateral cooperation in futuristic areas of cooperation. So I would say that it is rather unique for us and I don't know if that is replicated between any other two countries. Thank you.

Chandrakala Choudhury: Chandrakala this side from ETV Bharat. Sir, just a quick question, how do you see India-Singapore relations going ahead, especially with the new regime in place and as far as China's influence in the region is concerned? Thank you.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): So independent of our relations with any third country, India and Singapore relations are poised for an even bigger takeoff I think than what it has been in the last 10-15 years or so. That is because we have now gone to the next level of identifying areas of bilateral cooperation whether it be in food security, in renewables, in green hydrogen, in semiconductors, these are all areas where we have great complementarities and we can really complement each other in each of them. So I see our relationship as really taking off to the next stage and this is entirely driven by the logic of our respective situations. For Singapore, India presents tremendous opportunities and for us, Singapore presents us with many options regarding whether it be value chains, digital technologies and semiconductors, so yes I would say it. Thank you.

FDI from Singapore, somebody had asked, so FDI from Singapore, it was $11.77 billion last year.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson:With that we come to the close of this session. Thank you very much for your participation.