Singapore and India have affirmed that their bilateral ties remainstrong and they will look forward to further areas of cooperation.

The two countries’ Foreign Ministers made the affirmation whileco-chairing the third Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Singaporeon October 24.

Speaking at the event, India ’sExternal Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid affirmed that Indian seesSingapore as an important stepping stone towards its largerrelationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andbeyond.

India always considers Singapore anextremely important bilateral partner in the fields of politics,security, economic development and shared prosperity and culture, hestressed.

For his part, Singaporean Foreign Minister K.Shanmugam said that India is urbanising rapidly so it pays muchattention to planning and structuring soft skills and services, waterand waste management, and sewage treatment.

“These are the kinds of things that Singapore , amongst others, can work with Indian cities,” he noted.

Singapore and India are looking to celebrate the 50 th anniversaryof their bilateral ties in 2015, with upcoming visits by the twoPresidents and a Singapore festival in India and an India festivalin Singapore .

Two-way trade between Singapore andIndia reached 24 billion USD in 2012. At present, India isSingapore ’s sixth largest investor while Singapore is the secondlargest investor of India.-VNA