Singapore President Shanmugaratnam's visit to India

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapore was on a five day official visit to India from 14-18 January 2025.This is the first official visit of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to India. During his visit to India he visited New Delhi and Odisha.

During his visit to Odisha on 17 & 18 January 2025,eight memorandum of understanding (MoU ) were signed between Singapore and the state of Odisha.

60th anniversary of India Singapore diplomatic relation 

The Singapore President’s visit to India coincided with the 60th year of the establishment of the diplomatic relation between the two countries.

India was one the first countries in the world to recognize Singapore in 1965.

At the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, President Droupadi Mumru and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam jointly unveiled  a logo commemorating 60th anniversary of establishment of India-Singapore bilateral ties at the 

President Shanmugaratnam also met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and  other senior Indian ministers; External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari; Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Jagat Prakash Nadda; Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman.

President Shanmugaratnam visit to Odisha 

In the second leg of his India visit ,President  Shanmugaratnam visited Odisha on 17 & 18 January 2025.

During his visit to Odisha the President visited the Sun Temple at Konark and the Bharat Biotech vaccine manufacturing center at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. 

President  Shanmugaratnam was received at Bhubaneshwar's Biju Patnaik International Airport by the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on his arrival in Odisha.

Singapore President Shanmugaratnam visited the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar.

The centre has been established with the collaboration with Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education and Education Services (ITEES) and funded by the Asian Development Bank.

At the World Skill Center eight MoU were signed between the Singapore and Odisha governments.

Some of the important MoUs are as follows:

• Enhancing the state’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem especially in the semiconductor sector.
• Establishment of  zonal industrial training institutes across the support with knowledge support from Singapore.
• Cooperation in the field of  artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace technology, avionics, marine engineering, retail, electronics, semiconductor and renewable energy.
• Support for setting up of a world centre for information technology (WCIT) and information technology-enabled services (ITES) in the state.
• MoU between Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Sembcorp, Singapore,
• Cooperation between Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Singapore-based Surbana Jurong for developing a new city in the state.
• Setting up a green hydrogen corridor in the state.
• Development of a  Petroleum, Chemicals, and Petrochemical Investment Region in the state.

About Singapore 

Singapore is a small country and is also known as a city-state. It is situated at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula.

Singapore has a small population with mixed ethnicity. The ethnic Chinese constitute the largest population in the country followed by ethnic Malayas and Indians.

President : Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Prime Minister: Lawrence Wong

Capital:  Singapore

Currency: Singapore dollar