India, Singapore set to discuss trade, investment, advanced manufacturing at ISMR

With an aim to expand bilateral ties, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said the fourth round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) will be held in Singapore on August 20, 2026, with the two countries looking to further expand cooperation in key sectors such as trade, investment, advanced manufacturing and digitalization. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada will travel to Singapore to attend the ISMR.

During their visit, the ministers will meet their counterparts and call on the Singaporean leadership. The MEA said the ISMR is an important platform for driving cooperation, including in new and emerging areas.

Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022, followed by the second meeting in Singapore in August 2024 and the third in New Delhi in August 2025. Deliberations on advanced manufacturing, connectivity, digitalization, healthcare and medicine, skills development and sustainability at these meetings have helped shape the Roadmap for the India-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

The CSP Roadmap was unveiled during Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's visit to India in September 2025. Singapore is India's largest trading partner in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

It is also India's leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and among the largest sources of external commercial borrowings and foreign portfolio investment. Singapore was India's sixth-largest trading partner in the financial year 2024-25.

India's imports from Singapore stood at $21.2 billion in 2024-25, while exports to the country were valued at $14.4 billion. Over the past 10 years, Singapore's annual investments in India have ranged between $10 billion and $15 billion.