Singapore's efforts to strengthen India's connect with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will further New Delhi's Act East policy as well as the shared commitment to international law and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the Indian envoy in the city-state has said.
P Kumaran, India's high commissioner in Singapore, made these remarks at a reception hosted aboard the INS Saryu docked at Singapore's Changi Naval Base, complementing the Indian high commission's 75 years of India's Independence Day celebrations in the country.
Addressing the event, Kumaran said: “I am sure the ship's crew had useful exchanges during their short stay in Singapore with their professional interactions with the Republic of Singapore Navy."
India has always believed in such professional engagements to improve cooperation and understanding between various parties and joint missions in the complex maritime environment, he said.
“As we work together closely, Singapore's efforts to strengthen India's connect with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) only underline the mutual commitment and further India's Act East policy as well as the shared commitment to international law and stability in the Indo- Pacific region,” said the high commissioner.
India's Act East Policy focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific region. India has deep and cultural linkages with the ASEAN region and these have been strengthened in recent years to vibrate the economic engagements, Kumaran said.
The envoy highlighted India's active and positive contribution in numerous ways to the South East Asian region such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting Plus as well as India's support for the strengthening of the East Asia Summit.
During the reception, diplomats from friendly countries and guests participated in an energetic “Bhangra” at the dockside. The ship's Jazz band played popular numbers. On Independence Day, the INS Saryu crew and band as well as a contingent from Tri-Services of the Indian Armed Forces joined the High Commissioner in hoisting the Tricolour at the Chancery.
INS Saryu arrived in Singapore on Sunday (14) from Port Blair and will sail home on Wednesday (17).
Army personnel stand amid the rubble following an explosion inside the police headquarters at Kohat in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on September 18, 2026. An explosion at a historic police headquarters in northern Pakistan on September 18 killed at least eight people and wounded 35 more, officials said, with the country's president swiftly blaming a militant group. Getty Images
Mourners read the holy Quran while sitting around the grave of a paramilitary personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) who was killed during the Afghanistan-Pakistan border clashes, in Kohat on October 17, 2025. A ceasefire along the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan was holding on October 16, officials on both sides said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in cross-border clashes.Getty Images
