India looks forward to Singapore PM's visit: Krishna

New Delhi - Stating that India-Singapore ties were buttressed by a healthy exchange of visits between leaders and officials, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Tuesday said New Delhi is looking forward to a successful visit by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to India in July this year.

Krishna, who co-chaired the second meeting of the India-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for bilateral cooperation, in his press statement, said: "We noted that India-Singapore ties were buttressed by a healthy exchange of visits between leaders and officials, who embraced a shared vision of the value and importance of the relationship."

"Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Singapore in November 2011. We look forward to the successful visit of Singapore Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong to India in July 2012," he added.

Krishna said India-Singapore bilateral relations are broad-based and multi-faceted underpinned by convergence of political, economic and strategic interests.

"In the meeting, both sides expressed the common desire to seek new areas of cooperation that would take the partnership to an even higher level," he added.

Krishna said both sides expressed satisfaction at the excellent state of bilateral economic relations, including the growing flow of investments between the two countries.

"We look forward to an early conclusion of the 2nd Review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which has emerged as a cornerstone of our bilateral economic relationship since it's signing in 2005," he added.

Krishna further said both nations reviewed the bilateral defence cooperation, which is wide and intensive.

"We discussed cooperation in the areas of S&T, education including skills development & training, culture, among others. In the field of skills education and training we noted the potential that exist for mutually beneficial cooperation," said Krishna.

"Our Ministry of Labour and Singapore Ministry of Education have had detailed discussions on specific areas of cooperation. The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is also developing specific projects for a world-class skills training centre," he added.

Krishna said that he discussed India's engagement with the ASEAN with the Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam.

"We discussed India's engagement with the ASEAN, which is one of the cornerstone of our foreign policy and the key pillar of our Look East Policy. Both sides look forward to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi in December 2012," said Krishna.

"We also had detailed discussions on the regional situation and the major developments therein. The two sides had very fruitful discussions on various aspects of our bilateral relations in today's meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee," he added.

Shanmugam is presently on a three-day introductory official visit to India.