Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam arrives in Rajasthan's Jodhpur

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam arrived in Rajasthan's Jodhpur on Sunday. The visuals showed Shanmugaratnam arriving at the airport and walking towards his car.

His visit to India comes at a time when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a visit to Singapore. Earlier in September, Indian-origin economist, Tharman Shanmugaratnam was sworn in as the ninth Singapore President.

Jaishankar kicked off his Singapore visit on Saturday by paying homage to Subhash Chandra Bose and the brave Indian National Army soldiers. In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Began my Singapore visit by paying homage to Netaji and the brave Indian National Army soldiers. The INA Marker in Singapore recognizes their deep patriotism and indomitable spirit that remain an inspiration for generations to come."

He made remarks at the Institute of South Asian Studies of National University of Singapore. He was speaking on 'Why Bharat Matters'. Jaishankar said there's today momentum in India which has to be experienced to be believed and the country is going to be a much bigger economy in the coming years. He also recalled India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country reaching out to other countries through vaccines.

EAM Jaishankar also engaged in discussions with prominent corporate figures from the country who offered positive feedback on India's growth story derived from their investment experiences.

"A very productive interaction with leading Singaporeon Corporate figures. Appreciate their positive feedback on the India growth story based on investment experiences. Confident that their commitment to doing more business in India will further increase," S Jaishankar posted on X.

The ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links. India was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore in 1965, according to the High Commission of India in Singapore.

The relations between India and Singapore are based on shared values and approaches, economic opportunities and convergence of interests on key issues. There are more than 20 regular bilateral mechanisms, dialogues and exercises.

The two nations have great convergence on a broad range of international issues and both are members of a number of forums, including the East Asia Summit, G20, the Commonwealth, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).