India’s Speaker of Parliament, Shri Om Birla was in Singapore with a Parliamentary delegation from 24 to 26 April and during his visit met with Singapore’s Speaker of Parliament, Tan Chuan Jin and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Also in attendance during the meeting with Speaker Tan were Singapore MPs Gan Thiam Poh, Alex Yam and Ms Marian Jaffar.
According to a release from the Parliament of Singapore, Speaker Tan and Speaker Birla spoke about several aspects of the long-standing and deep relations between Singapore and India. They also had a fruitful discussion on ways to increase engagement between parliamentarians from both countries.
Said Mr Tan on his Facebook, “I first met His Excellency Om Birla, Lok Sabha Speaker, my counterpart from India, at the sidelines of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in Rome. We had also exchanged correspondence over time and even birthday greetings on Twitter! We have a strong relationship with India at many levels and it was meaningful to catch up again with him and his delegation.”
Writing on his Facebook page, ESM Goh said the Indian Parliamentary delegation was visiting Singapore as part of a regional visit.
“We discussed the importance of strengthening bilateral ties across all levels, including through increased inter- parliamentary exchanges. In a challenging world, Singapore needs friends and partners like India”, emphasised ESM Goh.
Mr Goh has been very much credited for starting off the India fever during his tenure as Prime no Minister of Singapore and over the years had played a pivotal role in blossoming Singapore-India ties.
Photo and article Source: SICCI’s May month newsletter