New Delhi: India and Singapore Thursday (September 5) reiterated the importance of peace and security in the South China Sea and supported the right of Quad countries to be active in the Indo-Pacific.
This was stated in the joint statement at the end of the two-day visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore, where he held talks with Singaporean PM Lawrence Wong.
The joint statement issued during the visit highlighted the need to peacefully resolve disputes in the South China Sea “in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), without resorting to the threat or use of force”.
Their references to the South China Sea come amidst an increasing violent confrontation between the Philippines and China over their respective claims to the sea’s oil-rich waters, where multiple countries have competing territorial claims.
The bilateral document further “reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea”.
They “underlined the importance of an open, inclusive, rules-based and resilient Indo-Pacific region, which promotes free trade and open markets and where differences are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law.”
Modi and Wong also hoped for the “early conclusion of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea … in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS, that does not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations including those not party to these negotiations.”
As for the Quad – the colloquial term for the informal grouping comprising the US, Japan, India and Australia that was revived amid China’s growing influence – the joint statement said the two sides “welcomed … the Quad’s agenda to support priorities and needs of countries in the Indo-Pacific region”.
China has always criticised the role of the Quad in the Indo-Pacific, with Chinese officials characterising it as an ‘Asian NATO’.
With regard to ASEAN, the multilateral grouping of Southeast Asian countries that includes Singapore, India and Singapore “agreed on the importance of ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional architecture for regional peace, stability and prosperity”.
The two leaders “supported further strengthening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which complements India’s bilateral relations with individual member states”, the joint statement added.
India and ASEAN upgraded the nomenclature of their ties to ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ in 2022.
When asked at a press briefing to what extent Modi and Wong discussed China vis-a-vis India’s ties with ASEAN, the Ministry of External Affairs’ east secretary Jaideep Mazumdar said peace, open commerce as well as free sea lines of communication and overflight were “important for both us and for Singapore”.
“These are some of the areas which both sides feel that are important for maintaining the growth that we see in each other’s countries,” Mazumdar said, adding that they were also important for India-ASEAN ties.
The secretary gave a similar answer when asked if India and Singapore would carry out joint defence exercises in the South China Sea and if India was “considering helping out members of the Quad with regards to the increasing Chinese aggressiveness in the [sea]”.
These statements come as China and Singapore continue to hold joint maritime exercises. They started one such five-day exercise – the third since 2015 – on Monday (September 2), the South China Morning Post reported.
Modi and Wong visit a AEM Holdings Ltd, a semiconductor and electronics firm, in Singapore. Photo: MEAphotogallery/Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Semiconductor cooperation figures in MoUs signed
India and Singapore also signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to cooperate in fields including digital technologies, education, health and semiconductors.
Modi and Wong “agreed that advanced manufacturing, particularly in developing resilient semiconductor supply chains, can be a new pillar of bilateral cooperation,” the joint statement read.
The deal aimed to give Singaporean companies a greater role in Indian supply chains, Reuters noted, adding that India expects its semiconductor market to be worth $63 billion in the next two years.
“Singapore has a long history of manufacturing in the semiconductor space, whether it is in terms of the actual production of wafers or testing or designing,” Mazumdar said during his press briefing.
“And in all these areas, I think we, in India, have put a particular focus on developing our capabilities at a very rapid pace,” he added.
“So across this entire spectrum of the semiconductor ecosystem, we find great convergences with Singapore, and I think you will see a very rapid growth in our joint efforts in this direction.”
