Diplomat's diary

In late November, India's high commissioner to Singapore Vijay Thakur Singh had, during a casual chat, mentioned that she was looking forward to the quieter year-end period to do a bit of exploring Singapore. It was coming to around six months since she took office and she was keen to visit some of the well-known Buddhist and Hindu temples here. But that did not happen.

The unfortunate incident in Little India turned the quiet period into a busy one for her. Until then, the high commissioner had been busy making introductory calls on the Singapore leadership and on officers of various ministries; interacting with business organisations, business persons, academics, intellectuals and members of the many think tanks in Singapore.

"I also attended a number of cultural and social events through which I have acquainted myself with the friends of India, as well as the Indian community. I also visited Indian migrant workers in their dormitories," she told tabla! as India prepared to celebrate its 65th Republic Day.

Singapore and India place top priority on bilateral relations and since Ms Singh took charge there has been a spate of high-level interactions from both sides. India's external affairs minister Salman Khurshid visited Singapore in July last year and in the same month, Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam visited India.

"In August, we had the Foreign Office Consultations followed by the Joint Ministerial Committee meeting here in October, where the foreign ministers of the two countries comprehensively reviewed the bilateral relationship. The chief justice of India also visited in October to participate in the Asia Pacific Chief Justices Conference and met Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, signifying the contacts between the judiciaries of the two countries at the highest level. November saw a large number of visitors from India for the second South Asian Diaspora Convention at which our finance minister P. Chidambaram was one of the keynote speakers along with the chief minister of Assam. Then Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong visited India in December," said Ms Singh highlighting the key activities and developments in the sphere of bilateral relations.

That did not mean she put her people engagement programme on the back-burner. Instead, the high commissioner made it a point to attend as many functions as she can and activities organised by the Indian community.

"It is important to remember that relations between two countries are, to a large extent, actually based on interactions between people. I view the Indian community as valuable partners in building and strengthening ties of friendship with Singapore which is my responsibility along with the other major responsibility, that is the welfare and well-being of the community. This requires engagement with them and, hence, in the past six months I have been interacting with a wide section of the Indian community," she explained.

She credited the Indian diaspora in Singapore with being progressive and hardworking.

"It has enriched, in many ways, Singapore's economic, social and cultural landscape. The Indian community in Singapore is large and diverse. They are working as professionals, bankers and financial analysts, researchers and academicians, teachers and intellectuals, business persons, technocrats and workers. All of them are contributing in their respective fields, with many of them attaining excellence and success. I am impressed with their achievements and proud to be representing them here in Singapore," she added.

The high commissioner also made it a point to visit dormitories to interact with the Indian migrant workers.

"They work hard and support their families back in India. Their concerns and issues are taken up by the High Commission with the Singapore authorities on an ongoing basis, and we will continue to engage migrant workers' issues with the Singapore authorities," she said when asked about Indian foreign workers.

Ms Singh is looking forward to 2015 when India and Singapore celebrate 50 years of bilateral relationships. When Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, India was one of the first countries to recognise and establish diplomatic relations.

"In this last half-century, the bilateral relationship has been elevated to a strategic partnership. We are engaging Singapore in multifarious fields - political, security and defence, economic and trade, science and technology, cultural and people to people contacts. Fifty years will be an occasion to celebrate the many advances in our relationship and also see how to further strengthen these ties," she said.

Ms Singh is a seasoned diplomat, having joined the foreign service in 1985. Since then, she has served in India's missions in Spain, Afghanistan and the United Nations. While in Delhi, she had stints at the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian president's Secretariat and the National Security Council Secretariat.

She is a native of Himachal Pradesh and did her law degree and master's degree in economics from Himachal Pradesh University.

She is married to Mr Vishvjit Singh - a poet, farmer and computer buff. When in India they divide their time between Delhi and their home in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Two female labradors, Bambi and Steffi, compete for their attention. The high commissioner misses them as the dogs are waiting for their papers to be processed before they can be brought to Singapore.

Ms Singh is often seen in exquisite saris. She says that even though she prefers traditional weaves, she chooses what catches her eye.

Her free time is spent reading non-fiction - mostly history, art-related subjects and economic articles. Among local publications, in addition to the mainstream newspapers, she reads tabla! every week.

"I saw a copy of tabla! on the day I arrived in Singapore. It is clearly widely circulated and popular - I would like to congratulate tabla! for providing extensive Indian news besides local news of interest to the community in Singapore. Last year, tabla! also co-organised the Singapore International Deepavali Shopping Festival, an event which generated considerable interest. I wish tabla! great success in all its endeavours," the high commissioner remarked.

Ms Singh is a vegetarian and says Singapore has lots to offer apart from the fare at the city's numerous Indian restaurants. She enjoyed vegetarian laksa when she tried it for the first time here. She is also impressed with what she has seen of Singapore these last six months.

"The one characteristic that stands out is the greenery of the city. My exploration of Singapore so far has been limited to the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay and Sentosa. I look forward to visiting many other economic, social and cultural landmarks of Singapore."

And that includes the Buddhist and Hindu temples she was supposed to visit last month.

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