Singapore is at 'heart' of India's Act East Policy: Jaishankar
Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan highlighted India's growing global role as the world shifts towards multipolarity during discussions with S Jaishankar. Their meeting, part of Jaishankar's two-nation trip, reaffirmed Singapore's central role in India's Act East Policy. Both countries aim to strengthen cooperation in investments, infrastructure, and connectivity, with plans for a ministerial roundtable in New Delhi.
ANI Jaishankar meets Singapore's counterpart Vivian Bala India will play an increasingly important role globally as the world "inexorably" transitions into multipolarity, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said after holding talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Sunday. Jaishankar, who was in this city-state as part of his two-nation trip, also met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Singapore is at the "heart" of India's Act East Policy, Jaishankar said after his meeting with Balakrishnan. From Singapore, he travels to China. India-Singapore relations were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country in September last year. "As the world inexorably transitions into multipolarity, India will play an increasingly important role as one of these major poles of opportunity," Balakrishnan said in a social media post.
The two sides also decided to hold the third India-Singapore ministerial roundtable in New Delhi soon. The External Affairs Ministry said the two sides reviewed progress of the outcomes of Prime Minister Modi's visit as well as the second round of India-Singapore ministerial roundtable. The focus of India-Singapore ties during Modi's visit as well as the ministerial roundtable was to boost cooperation in areas of investments, industrial parks, semiconductors, infrastructure, skill development and connectivity. The ministry said both sides also exchanged views on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Indo-Pacific and global developments. "The external affairs minister also met Teo Chee Hean, former senior minister and coordinating minister for national security and chairman-designate of Temasek Holdings," it said. "Their discussion focused on transformation underway in India and opportunities for Temasek to expand its investments in India," the ministry said in a statement.
Jaishankar's visit is part of continued high-level exchanges between two countries and reflects the importance India attaches to its relations with Singapore, it added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
29 minutes ago
- Economic Times
ICICI Prudential Life Q1 Results: Profit jumps 34% YoY as premiums rise, costs fall
India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on Tuesday reported a 34% rise in first-quarter profit, helped by higher premiums from group policies and lower operating costs. ADVERTISEMENT The life insurer reported a profit after tax of 3.02 billion rupees ($35.2 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared to 2.25 billion rupees a year before. Its net premium income grew 8% to 85.03 billion rupees, driven by a 20% jump in single premiums. Meanwhile, operating expenses decreased 10.1% aided by lower advertisement and sales related cost, the company said. Analysts said strong growth in group insurance plans during the April-June quarter boosted premium income for insurers. Group insurance policies cover a group of people under one contract and are generally utilised by firms for their employees. ADVERTISEMENT However, growth in market- or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) slowed in the quarter hit by broader market volatility driven by uncertainty over the global impact of policy shifts under U.S. President Donald Trump. ULIPs, which have lower margins, accounted for 46.8% of ICICI Prudential Life's overall product mix, down from 51.4% a year earlier. ADVERTISEMENT Annualised premium equivalent sales, a key metric that gives annualised total value of all single premium and recurring premium policies, fell 5% to 18.64 billion rupees for the June quarter. Value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies, fell 3.2% to 4.57 billion rupees for the quarter. ADVERTISEMENT The company's VNB margin rose slightly to 24.5% for the quarter, compared to 24% a year ago. This was supported by the company's reducing shares of its lower-margin, market or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIP). ADVERTISEMENT Peers HDFC Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance are yet to report their quarterly results. ($1 = 85.7800 Indian rupees). (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Business Standard
30 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Sparsh CCTV, Innoviz Technologies and Cron AI partner to offer Security and Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Solution Across India
PRNewswire New Delhi [India], July 15: Sparsh CCTV, one of India's leading manufacturers of smart cameras and integrated surveillance solutions with multiple government and enterprise clients in India, Innoviz Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INVZ), a global automotive leader in LiDAR solutions, and Cron AI, a leading deep learning 3D perception provider, announced today the collaboration to offer an integrated LiDAR-camera-vision perception platform, purpose-built for large-scale deployment across transport, perimeter security, railways and critical infrastructure. The announcement comes at a time when India's perimeter security sector is valued at USD 3.23 billion (2022) and projected to grow at a CAGR of 14% through 2030¹. The intelligent transport market, currently worth USD 1.44 billion (2024), is expected to more than double by 2033². Meanwhile, railway modernization and infrastructure investments exceed USD 1.3 billion³, driven by national programs like DFCCIL and Kavach. Together, these sectors represent over USD 1 billion⁴ in addressable opportunity for edge-native LiDAR-camera systems -- with massive scaling potential through 2030. With a footprint across 120+ cities, a network of 2,000+ partners and an annual production capacity of 500,000+ security devices, Sparsh will lead go-to-market efforts, support integration and explore local manufacturing for the unified sensing platform. The edge-native perception nodes -- combining high-performance LiDAR, deep-learning perception, and vision analytics -- are expected to be a part of security infrastructure upgrade project which is planned to go live at critical infrastructure across India. These systems are intended to deliver real-time insights into vehicle movement, pedestrian safety and perimeter activity -- all processed on the edge, without reliance on cloud compute or high-power infrastructure. "This partnership marks a major leap in how India can deploy high-performance, real-time sensing at scale," said Sanjeev Sehgal, Founder and MD of SparshCCTV. "By integrating global best-in-class LiDAR and 3D perception into our portfolio, we're equipping our customers across cities, industries, and government with intelligent systems that are built for Indian conditions and ready to scale." The integrated platform takes into account the complexities of Indian outdoor environments -- heat, dust, glare, fog, and electrical instability and delivers continuous, low-latency awareness at the edge. - InnovizSMART LiDAR delivers long-range, high-resolution, uniform 3D coverage, built to perform in harsh weather and lighting conditions - Cron AI's senseEDGE processes every point in the LiDAR cloud using deep learning -- not clustering -- for greater accuracy, richer context, and consistent performance. It runs at just 8 watts, with no GPU or external infrastructure - Sparsh's vision systems contribute intelligent classification, layered redundancy, and real-time visual analytics -- enhancing overall system reliability Together, they create a true sensor fusion platform, where 3D point cloud, video vision and edge-native AI combine to deliver next-gen situational awareness, deployable in the near future. "India's infrastructure needs intelligence that's fast, reliable, and frictionless," said Tushar Chhabra, Founder and CEO - Cron AI."We built senseEDGE for exactly this kind of real-world complexity. With Sparsh and Innoviz, we are making 3D perception truly scalable across India's cities and critical infrastructure." "Innoviz is proud to bring our rugged, automotive-grade LiDAR technology to one of the world's fastest growing infrastructure markets," said Omer Keilaf, CEO and Co-founder - Innoviz Technologies. "Paired with Cron AI's powerful edge-native perception and Sparsh's national reach, we are going to enable real-time intelligence for India's transport, security, and smart city initiatives." From intersections, railways to critical infrastructure and perimeters, this is the future of sensing in India -- real-time, intelligent, and built for deployment at scale. About Sparsh CCTV Sparsh is India's first STQC-certified CCTV camera brand and a leader in vision-based security. With operations in 120+ cities, exports to 10+ countries, and a partner network of 2,000+, Sparsh manufactures and deploys over half a million devices annually across sectors like law enforcement, transport, and critical infrastructure. About Cron AI Cron AI is a deep tech company transforming 3D perception for real-world infrastructure. Its platform, senseEDGE, uses deep learning to interpret every point in a LiDAR cloud -- delivering accurate, robust insights on just 8 watts of edge compute. Offered via a Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) model, Cron AI makes real-time 3D intelligence easy to deploy and scale. About Innoviz Technologies Innoviz is a global leader in LiDAR technology, serving top-tier automotive and industrial partners. Its solid-state LiDAR sensors and software meet the highest standards for safety, performance, and reliability -- and are trusted worldwide across transport, defense, and autonomous systems. Footnotes & Sources 1. Grand View Research - India Perimeter Security Market Outlook 2. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire - India ITS Market Forecast 3. See: Indian Railways CapEx Budget, DFCCIL Project, Kavach - PIB 4. Cron AI internal market sizing estimate based on infrastructure deployment potential and edge native perception opportunity Photo:
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
30 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Economy to grow at 6.5% in FY26 despite global uncertainties: EAC-PM Chair
The Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current financial year, despite geo-political tensions and trade policy uncertainties, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Chairman S Mahendra Dev said on Tuesday. In an interview with PTI, Dev further said that domestic growth will be driven by low inflation, resulting from good monsoon and benign interest rate regime, triggered by three back-to-back rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India. "There are significant global headwinds like the twin shocks of geo-political tensions and trade policy uncertainties. "However, the Indian economy is resilient and continues to be the fastest growing country among large economies," the eminent economist said. According to Dev, high-frequency indicators for the first two months of 2025-26 indicate resilient performance of the domestic economy. "A 6.5 per cent of GDP growth for FY26 is feasible despite global uncertainties. India's medium-term growth prospects seem to be robust with sound fiscal management," he said. Dev also emphasised that rising government capital expenditure will have positive impact on growth with a healthy expansion in private consumption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have slashed India's growth projections for 2025-26 to 6.2 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively, citing uncertain global environment and high trade tensions. The Indian economy is estimated to have grown at 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal year. As per the Reserve Bank of India's projections, the country's economy will expand at the same rate in the current fiscal year as well. Dev said there are many domestic tailwinds such as low inflation, rate cuts, and cash reserve ratio (CRR) cut by the RBI, expected good monsoon, measures in the last Budget like rising capital expenditure, tax reduction, etc. "These tailwinds may raise both rural and urban demand by raising both investment, consumption and some push to exports," he said, adding that on the supply side, agriculture and services are doing well and the growth of manufacturing will improve over the years. Responding to a question on inflation, Dev said with a good monsoon, food inflation should be under control this year. "Projections show continued moderation in the prices of many commodities, including crude oil. "Of course, we have to be watchful about the geopolitical uncertainties and tariff-related tensions, which can raise commodity prices," he said. CPI headline inflation was 2.10 per cent in June 2025 and it is the lowest year-on-year inflation after January 2019. Crude oil prices are currently under control. Food inflation in June 2025 was -1.06 per cent. Assuming a normal monsoon, RBI projected inflation at 3.7 per cent for FY26. Responding to a question on surge in net outward foreign direct investment (FDI), Dev pointed out that the World Investment report 2025 shows that global FDI inflows grew a marginal 3.7 per cent in gross FDI to USD 1,509 billion in 2024. "This is much lower than the global FDI inflows that had peaked nine years ago at USD 2,219 billion in 2015," he said. In other words, Dev said global FDI itself is growing slowly. Noting that India's FDI inflows have increased 14 per cent in FY25 -- although there was a moderation in net FDI -- he said it is known that there was net outward FDI and a rise in repatriation. "Exits and repatriation are part of the process and indicates a sign of a mature market. Unless you enable exit, the country can't attract investment," the EAC-PM chairman said. He pointed out that it may be noted that non-resident deposits and external commercial borrowings (ECBs) recorded higher net inflows in FY 25 compared to FY24. "Higher gross FDI also indicates that India continues to remain an attractive investment destination," Dev said. Referring to the government's push for public capital expenditure, Dev said increasing government capex will also have impact on private sector investment as studies have shown that creation of national highways and rural roads have increased businesses in rural and urban areas. "In other words, government capex will have multiplier effects. There are some green shoots on private capex," he asserted. Pointing out that many state governments are also attracting domestic and foreign private investment, he said the corporate sector and banks are earning more profits now and their balance sheets are in good shape. "So, there is no problem of capital availability. Industry is positive about India's growth story," Dev said. While the corporate sector is probably holding investment in capacity expansion due to global uncertainties and overcapacity in some countries like China, increase in rural and urban demand will facilitate more private investment, he said. "Many firms turned debt free and doubled their cash on the books. India Inc has to make new investments instead of keeping the cash," the EAC-PM said. Citing Economic Survey 2024-25, which had argued for deregulation and easing "compliance burden", he said there is a need for more progress on "ease of doing business" at the state level. "Hopefully, private capex will be more once the domestic demand increases further and global uncertainties are reduced," Dev said, adding that once the tariff concerns are over, there will be more opportunity for Indian industry to invest.
