PM Modi holds `fruitful meeting` with Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in Italy

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said PM Modi met his Singapore counterpart on a number of occasions but this is their first meeting in the post-pandemic period.

Rome: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a "fruitful meeting" with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong here on Saturday during which they reviewed the full range of the friendly ties between the two countries and discussed issues related to trade and efforts to contain the pandemic.

Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi, met Prime Minister Lee on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"A fruitful meeting between Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @leehsienloong in Rome. The two leaders reviewed the full range of the friendly ties between India and Singapore," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

In a tweet, Modi said he had an "excellent meeting" with Prime Minister Lee on ways to further scale-up the friendship between India and Singapore. "Our talks focused on trade, culture and other subjects," he added.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Prime Minister Modi met his Singapore counterpart on a number of occasions but this is their first meeting in the post-pandemic period.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi discussed global efforts to combat climate change and the forthcoming COP26, Shringla said.

"They discussed efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts and ensuring supply of critical medicines. In that context, Prime Minister Modi thanked the Prime Minister of Singapore for his assistance and that of the government and people of Singapore during our second wave of the crisis," he said.

Shringla recalled that India was able to source a very large number of requirements in terms of ISO Cryogenic tankers, concentrators, oxygen equipment from Singapore during the second wave of pandemic early this year.

"Prime Minister Lee congratulated our prime minister on the rapid vaccination drive in India. They discussed ways to enhance people-to-people ties, in particular resumption of early travel between both countries," he said.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Modi also exchanged pleasantries with several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South Korean President Moon Jae-in among others.

Italy has been holding the presidency of the G20 since December last year.