Why in news?
Singapore’s Prime Minister visited India in September 2025 to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations. During the visit the two nations agreed on a forward‑looking roadmap to deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) across multiple sectors.
What is the CSP?
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership represents the highest level of bilateral engagement between India and Singapore. It evolved from an earlier Strategic Partnership in 2015 and was further upgraded in 2025. The CSP seeks to align economic, strategic and people‑to‑people ties.
Key areas of cooperation in the 2025 roadmap
- Economic cooperation: Both sides agreed to review the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and the ASEAN–India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). They plan to collaborate on semiconductors, capital markets and space technology.
- Skills development: A National Centre of Excellence will be established in Chennai to provide advanced manufacturing training and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes.
- Digitalisation: The countries will expand interoperability between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow, and explore collaboration in fintech, cyber‑security and artificial intelligence for healthcare and agriculture.
- Sustainability: Cooperation will span green hydrogen production, civil nuclear projects and joint initiatives on climate change and food security.
- Connectivity: Plans include strengthening maritime and aviation links and developing a green and digital shipping corridor. Sustainable aviation fuel will also be promoted.
- Healthcare and medicine: The partnership covers digital health, medical technology research, nursing training and disease surveillance.
- People‑to‑people ties: Student and professional exchanges, cultural programmes and parliamentary collaboration will foster mutual understanding.
- Defence and security: Enhanced military exercises, maritime security cooperation, counter‑terrorism efforts and joint development of defence technologies are part of the roadmap.
Relevance for UPSC aspirants
The India–Singapore CSP exemplifies how India engages its Southeast Asian neighbours and balances strategic and economic interests. Topics such as the Indo‑Pacific strategy, ASEAN centrality, digital payments, semiconductor manufacturing and renewable energy cooperation are pertinent to General Studies Paper II (international relations) and General Studies Paper III (economy and science‑technology). The people‑centric aspects of the partnership also offer material for ethics and essay preparation.