Edited Transcript of Remarks by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at the Inaugural Session of 'India-Singapore: The Next Phase', A Business and Innovation Summit Organised by the High Commission of India, 9 September 2019

• Published date: 09 September 2019
• Publication title: ASEAN Tribune

9 September 2019 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Singapore) Minister for External Affairs of India S Jaishankar

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me start by posing this question to all of you. If you go back two thousand years, where were the major economies of the world? The answer if you go back two thousand years, there was Rome, a significant and major empire. And I ask you another question. Was there trade between Rome and India? The answer is, yes. And then if you fast forward a thousand years, and I pose this question to you: what was the share of global GDP that India and China constitute a thousand years ago? The answer is that these two ancient civilizations constituted about half of the global GDP.

Moving forward another five centuries to the late 15th century, the Age of Discovery was occurring in Europe - the Renaissance, the re-discovery of science, and in particular the incipient beginnings of a technological revolution meant that per capita GDP in Europe was at least double of that in India and in China. And the Europeans back then already knew about the wealth of India. And that's why in 1492, when Christopher Columbus landed in America, what he was really in search of was India and its wealth. And from 1497 to 1499, Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, circumnavigated the Horn of Africa, and reached India - I think Calicut, a port city in Kerala. And then began the European colonisation of India. One question which I would also leave with you is, why, and how, did this happen? And my hypothesis is that it was because the Industrial Revolution began in Europe. And the amassed enormous amassed technological, economic and ultimately military power, and that became the fuel for colonisation. And that was the last few centuries as we know it.

The reason why I have taken this extended jaunt through history is because I wanted to leave a few points on the table. One, India has always been an ancient and wealthy component of global GDP. Second, trade has always been a part of that. Third, do not underestimate the importance of industrial revolutions and disruptions that has on distribution of power in the world and its long term impact on us.

Fast forward to today, I believe we are on the cusp of another Industrial Revolution - whether you call it Industry 4.0, or the digital revolution, whatever you call it. When you are on the cusp of another revolution, you must anticipate disruption on a similar scale as that had occurred five hundred, a thousand, or two thousand years ago. Therefore, that sets the context for how we view the world, how we assess the trends that are unfolding, and how to maximise the opportunities. I do not have time to explore all the implications, but I wanted to leave these thoughts on the table for you to consider.

If I were now to zoom down to the dynamics of the relationship between India and Singapore, let me share a few thoughts. The history of Singapore as a trading port can never be separated from the importance of trade between India and China. It is no accident that Singapore - which is one degree, 15 minutes north of the equator; at the tip of the ancient Eurasian landmass and the Straits of Malacca; and at the fulcrum between the Northeast monsoon and the Southwest monsoon - was always part of trade between India and China. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the arrival of the Europeans in the region, we ultimately became part of not just the Indo-Pacific region, but also of regions across the Pacific and the Atlantic.

What this means is that Singapore has always sought to integrate India into the regional architecture. That's why as Minister Jaishankar mentioned, Singapore was a key advocate for the inclusion of India into the East Asia Summit. We have always believed that India belongs to this part of the world. We have always viewed India to be an essential and invaluable partner. This partnership is defined by a common strategic outlook and a shared commitment to maintain a multilateral rules-based order.

On the defence front, let me share a factoid of which...