Tharman: Why India is important to Singapore

Singaporeans need to understand region better, says DPM Tharman
By Thomas Cho, Channel NewsAsia. 7 Apr 2012

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Asia is growing in importance, and Singaporeans need to understand the region and its complex connections better.

He said the "Genius of India" offered by the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology is welcome in this regard.

Mr Tharman said this to IIT alumni gathered in Singapore at the Suntec Convention Centre on Saturday.



Since 2002, IIT alumni have gathered alternately in India and the United States, where there are about 40,000 IITians.

The number of IITians in Singapore has been growing over the years. This growth, a result of the growing economic and strategic importance of Asia Pacific, is one reason why the IIT alumni decided to meet in Singapore this year.

The Indian Institute of Technology - also known as the MIT of India - is seen as a pinnacle of its education system and helps foster India's relationships with the world.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Singapore needs to engage India more, so as to play a useful role in helping others in the region.

"From a fairly young age, people need to understand Asia and other parts of Asia besides their own country. This is extremely important for Singapore. We have always had strong relationships with the immediate regions around us. We have fairly strong relationships with China and East Asia and we have relatively weak linkages with India in education until the last five or six years, when it has been growing rapidly," said Mr Tharman.

Mr Tharman said some 15 per cent of Singapore secondary schools already have tie-ups with India, but more can be done.

Mr Tharman said Singapore could help India with urban solutions, like clean water and the environment.

"The challenge in India, in this regard, is to develop urban solutions that provide a standard of living that is acceptable to a broad mass of people and can spur economic growth both in manufacturing and services. There is a whole range of urban solutions that cities like Singapore have had longer experience in," he said.

Mr Tharman also spoke of Singapore's need to have a diversified economy.

"We are a city as well a country, you need the diversity of economic options, work options for your population both in order to maximise their strengths and their natural talents and abilities... You can't depend purely on services... For us it is part and parcel of our economic thinking - preserving manufacturing and moving it upstream," he said.

The PanIIT Summit is the first to be held outside India and the US, and many see it as a way to further promote and deepen Singapore-India ties.