Kalam has talks with Singaporean President
by Gaurav Shrivastava

    Singapore: Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam today held talks with his Singaporean counterpart S R Nathan, starting a two-day official visit to the country. Wide-ranging bilateral and international issues and talks on major economic pacts with the Asian giant are understood to have figured. Kalam who arrived in Singapore on Tuesday evening leading a high-level delegation, after inspecting a guard-of- honor at Singaporean President Palace, "Istana" today held one- to-one meeting lasting for nearly 30 minutes with Nathan who himself had made a state visit to India in 2003. President Kalam also met with Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who is believed to be a firm supporter of closer Singapore-India ties.

    He will also deliver the Singapore Lecture and interact students and faculty of the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technical University, besides visiting the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the Public Utility Board and a desalination plant there. Kalam is also likely to visit the Museum of Asian Civilisations and the Singapore Fine Arts Society. Kalam, who is on a three-nation tour of Singapore, Philippines and South Korea is scheduled to discuss a range of issues including trade, agriculture and science and technology. Later in the day, President Kalam will deliver the 27th Singapore Lecture entitled "Evolution of Enlightened Societies on our Planet" organised by Singapore's Institute of South-East Asian Studies. The President is also scheduled to visit the National University and the Biopolis Stem cell research centre, where he will interact with the faculty members and students. Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng would chair the lecture, which has become one of the intellectual highlights of Singapore. Lee Hsien Loong, who witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India on his visit last year, will host lunch for the President and his delegation. A State banquet will be hosted by the Singaporean President in honour of President Kalam tonight.

     During his stay here, President Kalam will also meet Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang and Minister for Defence Teo CheeHean. Singapore is also looking at jointly developing a large special economic zone with India by getting Japanese companies involved in the projects. On the international front, Singapore has publicly endorsed and supported India's membership and candidature for regional groupings in Southeast Asia and the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Singapore has been a very important partner of India in the region, in ASEAN. Over the recent years, Singapore firms have increased their presence in India. In June last year, during Prime Minister Lee's India visit, the two countries had signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which is the first of its kind that India has signed. There is a Joint Working Group between Indian and Singapore to cooperate in the field of terrorism and a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. The CECA is an integrated package comprising a free trade agreement, a bilateral agreement on investment promotion and protection, an improved double taxation avoidance agreement and a work programme for cooperation in healthcare, education, media and tourism. India's ties with Singapore date back to the founding of the city-state, when British colonial administrator Sir Stamford Raffles arrived to establish a trading outpost in 1819.

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