01 June 2014
Singapore-India Relations – Cultural Engagement and Foreign Policy
Executive summary
Bilateral relations between Singapore and India have deepened in recent years. With India’s continued rise as well as its links with a fast-growing East Asia, Singapore-India relations are set to develop further. Currently, Singapore-India relations are mainly focused along the more traditional lines of diplomatic, military and economic engagements. However, India’s historical, cultural and civilisational heft also opens up other cultural and intellectual possibilities for strengthening Singapore-India relations. This brief pursues these possibilities, and drawing on recent scholarly work, as well as fieldwork interviews conducted in New Delhi in 2013, it suggests how bilateral relations can be further enhanced through expanding our conceptions of foreign policy. This can be achieved through broader engagements between academia and policymaking, and through recognising the ways in which culture – and cultural processes related to film and literature – contributes to foreign relations and security. This brief concludes with three policy recommendations aimed at enhancing Singapore-India relations: (i) active support of film and literary festivals; (ii) inclusion of Indian film and literature into Singapore’s educational curricula; and (iii) fostering greater engagement between academic communities of Singapore and India in these aforementioned areas of research.
Executive summary
Bilateral relations between Singapore and India have deepened in recent years. With India’s continued rise as well as its links with a fast-growing East Asia, Singapore-India relations are set to develop further. Currently, Singapore-India relations are mainly focused along the more traditional lines of diplomatic, military and economic engagements. However, India’s historical, cultural and civilisational heft also opens up other cultural and intellectual possibilities for strengthening Singapore-India relations. This brief pursues these possibilities, and drawing on recent scholarly work, as well as fieldwork interviews conducted in New Delhi in 2013, it suggests how bilateral relations can be further enhanced through expanding our conceptions of foreign policy. This can be achieved through broader engagements between academia and policymaking, and through recognising the ways in which culture – and cultural processes related to film and literature – contributes to foreign relations and security. This brief concludes with three policy recommendations aimed at enhancing Singapore-India relations: (i) active support of film and literary festivals; (ii) inclusion of Indian film and literature into Singapore’s educational curricula; and (iii) fostering greater engagement between academic communities of Singapore and India in these aforementioned areas of research.
