OREANDA-NEWS. November 21, 2011. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh accompanied by Smt. Gursharan Kaur paid an official visit to Singapore on 19-20 November, 2011. He paid a courtesy call on President of Singapore Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam and also held talks with his counterpart, Prime Minister of Singapore Mr. Lee Hsien Loong. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mrs. Lee Hsien Loong hosted a lunch in honour of Prime Minister and Smt. Gursharan Kaur and the accompanying delegation. During his stay in Singapore, Prime Minister also met with former Prime Ministers of Singapore Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Prime Minister had wide ranging discussions with his counterpart covering international, regional and bilateral issues. The Prime Minister emphasised that Singapore is an important pillar of India's Look East Policy and the two countries shared a close understanding in regional and multilateral fora. Both leaders affirmed the strong bilateral ties between India and Singapore and agreed that there had been a remarkable deepening of bilateral relationship since the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2005. They discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in fields such as Trade, Investment, Skills Development, Education, Infrastructure and Township Development. They took note of the ongoing second CECA review and underlined the need for it to be purposeful and covering all aspects of trade, investment and services. Prior to the visit the Governments of India and Singapore signed a MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Personnel Management and Public Administration and an Executive Programme on Cooperation in the Fields of Arts, Heritage, Archives and Library. The Parliaments of India and Singapore have also agreed to establish respective Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

Both Prime Ministers took note of the strong intergovernmental links between India and Singapore and continued regular high level institutional exchanges such as the Foreign Office Consultations, Ministerial Meetings, the Defence Policy Dialogue and the Security Round Table. Prime Minister extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of Singapore to pay a bilateral visit to India and also said that we looked forward to Singapore's participation in the India-ASEAN Summit in India in December- 2012 to commemorate 20 years of our partnership with ASEAN and in the series of activities India is planning in the run up to the Summit.

During his stay in Singapore the Prime Minister and Emeritus Senior Minister Mr. Goh Chok Tong unveiled a Marker and Bust of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Asian Civilisation Museum Greens.