NEW DELHIi (Sputnik) — During his five-day visit Singapore Prime Minister Loong will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for bilateral talks.
A number of agreements are schedule to be signed during the visit, including a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Indian Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Singaporean Intellectual Property Office, establishing a northeast skills center in Assam between the Institute of Technical Education Services and the Government of Assam and also between the Singaporean Institute of Technical Education Services and the Indian National Skill Development Cooperation.
During his visit, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Loong will also visit Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan and attend the launch of the Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training. Lee Hsien Loong will also sign two agreements with the Rajasthan government, first in the fields of tourism and urban solutions and second on a capacity building program for tourism and hospitality.
Indian and Singaporean cooperation has traditionally been focused on trade and investment. India is Singapore's 10th largest trading partner and foreign direct investment from Singapore has also been increasing. Thus, recent India-Singapore relations were upgraded to being a strategic partnership after Modi's visit to Singapore last November.