S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister and the Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday have discussed new avenues of the India-Singapore relationship through the opportunities provided by 'New India'.

Jaishankar is on a visit to Singapore. He is also accompanied by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Hardeep S. Puri. The External Affairs Minister posted a picture of the meeting on Twitter.

Meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong

Jaishankar had called on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on September 9 where he discussed bilateral ties and the issues concerning the world. He stated that India is looking at an open, inclusive and balanced Indo-Pacific region. Further, he also co-chaired the 6th Joint Ministerial Commission with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan and reviewed the whole range of bilateral issues.

During his visit, S Jaishankar also met the Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. 

Also read: Jaishankar: 'India is looking at a balanced Indo-Pacific region'

Also read: Singapore a fulcrum for India's economic policies: S Jaishankar

Other engagements

During his visit, Jaishankar attended the India-Singapore Business & Innovation Summit. He also expressed India’s reservations on joining the proposed mega free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as it is concerned over the “protectionist policies” of China that have created a significant trade deficit between the two nations. RCEP The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed mega free trade agreement being negotiated among 16 countries including 10-nation ASEAN bloc (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and its six trading partners — India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

Also read:S Jaishankar: J&K communication restrictions to counter terrorists

Also read: Jaishankar in Moscow: Pakistan using terror as a diplomatic tool

(With PTI Inputs)