SINGAPORE CITY: 17th India-Singapore Foreign Office Consultations (FOC)

SINGAPORE CITY: The 17th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between India and Singapore were held in New Delhi on 18 September 2023. The FOC was co-chaired by Shri Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, India and H.E. Mr. Luke Goh, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Law and concurrently Second Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.

Coming close on the heels of the visit of Prime Minister of Singapore to India for the G20 Summit, the FOC provided an opportunity to follow up on the Leaders’ discussions and review the robust bilateral relationship.

Both sides expressed satisfaction at the intense political exchanges which took place this year as several Singaporean Ministers were hosted by India for G20 meetings in various cities.

Permanent Secretary congratulated India for a successful G20 Presidency. The two sides discussed areas of ongoing collaboration such as trade & investment, defence & security, fintech, digitalisation, green energy, skill development and people-to-people ties.

They also exchanged views on the progress achieved on specific growth engines identified under the inaugural meeting of the India-Singapore Ministerial Round-table (ISMR) in September 2022 and looked forward to its next edition.

Both sides also discussed regional, global and multilateral issues of common interest. Indian side appreciated Singapore for joining the International Solar Alliance earlier in June this year and thanked Singapore for joining the ‘Global Biofuels Alliance’ which was launched at the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Second Permanent Secretary Goh also met the Law Secretary.

​Both sides agreed to hold the next round of FOC in Singapore on a mutually convenient date.