PM Modi congratulates Singapore’s President-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam, hopes to strengthen bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Singapore’s President-elect, Indian-origin economist Tharman Shanmugaratnam for his landslide victory in the city-stat’s presidential polls, which were held on Friday.

“Hearty congratulations @Tharman_s on your election as the President of Singapore. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership,” PM Modi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Shanmugaratnam, an Indian-origin Singapore-born economist, registered a landslide victory in Singapore’s presidential election on Friday, winning over 70 per cent of votes in the country’s first contested presidential polls since 2011.

Hearty congratulations @Tharman_s on your election as the President of Singapore. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 2, 2023

The 66-year-old former senior minister bagged 70.4 per cent (1,746,427 votes) of the 2.48 million votes cast, while his Chinese-origin rivals Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian received 15.72 per cent and 13.88 per cent respectively, the Elections Department said.

The result was announced by Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui at well past midnight, making Tharman Singapore’s third Indian-origin president till date.

The Indian origin economist, will be Singapore’s ninth president. He won the election with a vote share of 70.4 per cent.

India and Singapore’s bilateral relationship was elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2015 during the visit of PM Modi and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. PM Modi visited Singapore twice in 2015.

The two countries once again added new momentum and direction in the Strategic Partnership in 2018, anchored by the state visit of PM Modi to Singapore to attend the ASEAN-India and related summits. Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong also visited India in January 2018 to participate in the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi and also co-chaired the 2018 ASEAN India Commemorative Summit (AICS).