Singapore PM Loong hosts dinner for PM Modi

Singapore: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hosted a dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday.

Prime Minister Loong treated Prime Minister Modi at Komala Vilas restaurant in the City’s ‘Little India’.

Delivering the 37th Singapore Lecture earlier, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the mutual bond between the two nations, while terming Singapore “a metaphor of reality of dreams”.

He also highlighted the pace of reforms in India.

Stating that Singapore is one of India’s most important partners in the world at the present, the Prime Minister said the relationship between both the countries is “as strategic as it is wide-ranging”.

“We have comprehensive defence and security relations. It flows out of shared interests and a common vision. Singapore holds regular exercises with and in India,” he said. “Singapore is the biggest investment source and destination for India in the world; the world’s most connected nation to India; the largest trading partner in Southeast Asia; and, a popular destination for tourists and students.”

He concluded his speech cautioning about the capability of terrorism to derail economies.

Prime Minister Modi will also address the Indian diaspora, as nearly 3, 50,000 ethnic Indians stay in Singapore. (ANI)