Jaishankar lays foundation for new India House in Singapore, flags new ties era

S Jaishankar and Vivian Balakrishnan laid the foundation stone for the new Indian mission complex in Singapore. The project underscores a new phase in bilateral ties and stronger support for the Indian diaspora.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the new chancery complex of the Indian High Commission in Singapore, saying the facility will reflect a "new era" in the India-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was also present at the event.Jaishankar is in Singapore for the fourth India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, scheduled to be held on Thursday. Earlier in the day, he and Balakrishnan held what Jaishankar described as a "detailed discussion" on further deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries and on the current geopolitical situation. He said, "Look forward to further interacting with him during the 4th India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable tomorrow."In a social media post, Jaishankar said, "Joined FM @VivianBala of Singapore in laying the foundation stone of the new Chancery complex of @HCI_Singapore today." He added, "Confident that this complex will reflect the new era of India-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and further strengthen services for the Indian diaspora."According to the Singapore Census of Population 2020, people of Indian origin make up nine per cent of the country’s 4.04 million resident population. Singapore also hosts 1.64 million foreigners, including Indian citizens. The Indian mission said Indians in Singapore include students and people working in financial services, IT, construction and marine sectors. Tamil is one of Singapore’s four official languages, along with English, Mandarin Chinese and Malay. The India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable is a key platform for discussions on expanding bilateral economic and strategic cooperation. The inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022, followed by the second meeting in Singapore in August 2024. The third meeting was held in New Delhi in August last year. Besides Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada will take part in the roundtable.India and Singapore elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2015, with cooperation spanning trade and investment, digitalisation, defence and security, education, skills and emerging technologies. Singapore is India’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and the leading source of FDI, besides being among the largest sources of external commercial borrowings and foreign portfolio investment. Singapore was India’s sixth-largest trading partner in 2024-25, with India’s imports at USD 21.2 billion and exports at USD 14.4 billion. Over the past 10 years, Singapore’s annual investments in India have ranged between USD 10 billion and USD 15 billion. Jaishankar’s visit brought together the ceremonial marking of the new chancery project and discussions aimed at taking the broader bilateral partnership forward. With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 19, 2026 13:56 IST