This article looks at the historical and cultural links between India and Singapore, education and skills cooperation, tourism, and the Indian community in Singapore. Its facts come from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026.

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in commercial, cultural and people-to-people links across a millennium. The brief attributes the more modern connection to Sir Stamford Raffles, who in 1819 established a trading station in Singapore on the route of the Straits of Malacca. The station later became a crown colony and was governed from Kolkata till 1867.

The brief states that the colonial connection is reflected in institutions and practices, in the use of English and in the presence of a large Indian community.

Cultural exchanges

The brief records regular cultural exchanges between the two countries in performing arts, theatre, museum exchanges, art, languages and youth exchanges. It notes that Singapore's large Indian diaspora actively promotes Indian art forms in Singapore through a number of cultural societies.

Recent events and announcements include:

  • September 2024: during Prime Minister Modi's visit, it was announced that a Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center will be set up in Singapore to promote bilateral cultural exchanges.
  • September 2025: an ICCR sponsored Manipuri dance troupe took part in the Deepavali Light-Up Ceremony 2025 in Singapore.
  • Jan-Mar 2026: the 2nd edition of the Indian Film Festival in Singapore was held.

People-to-people and cultural exchanges are one of the eight priority areas of the CSP Roadmap adopted in September 2025.

Education and skills

The brief describes active collaboration between India and Singapore to establish skill development centres in various sectors. As of July 2026, skill centre projects with public and private support have been completed at 6 places:

  • Himachal Pradesh
  • Delhi
  • Rajasthan (Udaipur)
  • Assam (Guwahati)
  • Odisha (Bhubaneshwar)
  • Telangana (Hyderabad)

Another 2 projects, in Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Gujarat (Gandhinagar), are ongoing.

The two sides exchanged an MoU on Cooperation in Education and Skill Development during the Prime Minister's visit to Singapore in September 2024. During Prime Minister Wong's visit to India in September 2025, an MoU for the establishment of a National CoE for skilling in advanced manufacturing in Chennai was exchanged. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Singapore in October 2024. Skills Development is also one of the pillars of the ISMR.

The Indian community in Singapore

As per the Singapore Census of Population 2020, cited in the brief, people of Indian origin constitute 9% of Singapore's resident population of 4.04 million. Singapore also hosts 1.64 million foreigners, including Indian citizens.

Indians in Singapore include students and people working in financial services, IT, construction and the marine sector. According to the brief, Singapore has the highest concentration of IIT and IIM alumni in any one city outside India.

Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore. Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi are also offered in schools.

Tourism

According to the brief, the Singapore Tourism Board has an office in India. The brief gives no figures for tourist flows in either direction.

Recognition and diaspora events

During his visits to Singapore, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has had engagements with the Indian diaspora, according to the brief.

The brief names these recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from Singapore:

  • Mr. Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Bank Singapore, in 2023
  • Mr Atul Temurnikar, Chairman of Global Schools Foundation, Singapore, in 2025

Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs and Law, Mr. K. Shanmugam, visited India in January 2024 as Chief Guest at the World Tamil Diaspora Day 2024. Indian delegations to Singapore have also met the community: the All-Party Parliamentary Delegation that visited in May 2025 had engagements with the Indian community.