Lawrence Wong to make first visit to India as PM, meet Modi in New Delhi

This time, Mr Wong will call on Indian President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi and meet with Mr Modi, who will also host him to a banquet lunch.

Mr Wong, who is also finance minister, will meet other Indian ministers and visit the Raj Ghat memorial to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India’s independence movement.

He will attend a reception with overseas Singaporeans in the Indian capital, and engage a group of Indian business leaders in a closed-door roundtable session.

Three office holders will accompany him: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan; Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow; and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang.

Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Digital Development and Information will also be part of the delegation.

During Mr Wong’s absence, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam will be the acting prime minister. 

Mr Wong’s visit follows President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s state visit to India in January and the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in August, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong led Singapore’s delegation.

Singapore is India’s leading source of foreign direct investment and India’s sixth-largest trading partner.

Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1965, signed a free trade agreement in 2005 and established a Strategic Partnership in 2015.