The Hindu : Goh for dynamic links with India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 06, 2003

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Goh for dynamic links with India

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE April 5. Evincing a "genuine interest" in reaching out to India, a potentially "important friend", in the long-term future, Singapore has signalled its readiness to diversify its traditional links with New Delhi.

Outlining this political vision, the Singapore Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, told The Hindu in an exclusive interview here that he would, during his prospective visit to India, enter into a "candid exchange of views" with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the evolving situation in Iraq. Mr. Goh would, at the same time, seek to "enhance" bilateral ties by jointly launching negotiations for a "comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA)". The Singapore leader will arrive in New Delhi on Monday to begin his fourth visit to India as the city-state's Prime Minister.

Characterising the proposed CECA as a "free trade agreement (FTA)-plus", Mr. Goh outlined how India had come to occupy an important niche in the foreign policy of Singapore, which has often been described by scholars such as Michael Leifer and others as "an exceptional state" with economic success and political influence disproportionate to the small size of the country itself.

In an hour-long interview, marked by a remarkable degree of geniality and good humour, Mr. Goh minced no words, however, in trying to temper his vision of new possibilities in bilateral ties with a sense of realism as well. He envisioned the possibility of creating a "new Silicon valley" in the general region of India and Singapore, and he considered China, too, as a potential player in any such venture.

Responding to sensitive questions, he said Singapore was already working with both India and China in "even-handed" fashion within the context of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), despite the city-state's "closer" economic ties with Beijing "at this stage". According to him, Singapore could "add value" to the Sino-Indian economic equation by acting as a "bridge" between the two Asian giants. With New Delhi and Islamabad, too, at another level, Singapore was already practising an "even-handed" policy, despite the city-state's "close" economic ties with India, he noted.

On the current Iraq crisis, Mr. Goh spelt out Singapore's overall U.S.-friendly line as follows: "Yes, we support the U.S. action (war). Because, we regarded this as an issue of dismantling the weapons of mass destruction which Iraq, we believe, has. So, having voted for Resolution 1441 (as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council last year), ... if we look back, had the world in fact voted strongly for a second resolution (prior to the ongoing war), putting pressure on Saddam Hussein to disarm, he might have done so". In his view, "North Korea would proceed with its nuclear armaments" and "destabilise South East Asia for terrorism" if the U.S. were to have "blinked" at this stage. (Excerpts of interview in International section)

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