Singapore’s name comes from Sanskrit, says Teo Chee Hean as he hails ties with India

Singapore’s former Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on Tuesday drew a direct line between India and Singapore’s shared past, noting that even the island nation’s name bears the stamp of India’s age-old influence.

“The name Singapore or Singapura is derived from Sanskrit. This reflects India’s early influence in Southeast Asia. Until 1867, Singapore was governed from Calcutta,” Teo said while delivering the fifth Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.

Teo, who is now chairman of Temasek and senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Singapore, said the historic ties remain a fast-evolving partnership that was elevated to a strategic level during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last visit to Singapore. He termed the relationship between India and Singapore as deep-rooted and highlighted the age-old movement of people, culture and trade between the two regions.

He also highlighted the important role of the Indian community in shaping modern Singapore. “The Indian diaspora has formed a significant part of Singapore’s migrant community and shaped our economy, culture and diverse social fabric that we cherish today,” he said.

Teo praised India’s global message of sustainable cooperation and called its One Earth, One Family, One Future vision a meaningful call in a broken world. He also pointed to the Modi government’s economic reforms as a reason why international investors, including Temasek, continue to have confidence in India’s long-term direction.

“For ease of doing business, the GST has been simplified to create a unified national market,” he noted, adding that India’s consolidation of labor laws into four major codes had impressed global investors. “Many thought this was not possible in India, but you made it possible.”

Earlier, Teo met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. “Happy to meet Chairman of Temasek Holdings Teo Chee Hean and his team in New Delhi today. We discussed the investment opportunities opened up in India through recent reforms,” ​​Jaishankar said in a message on X.

Teo also met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said Temasek’s cumulative exposure to India is $50 billion. They look forward to expanding their footprint in India in the coming years, as a win-win opportunity for both, with a focus on financial services, consumer markets, healthcare innovation, technology, manufacturing and renewable energy, among others.

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