Indians in Singapore welcome PM Modi with “Ganpati Bappa Morya”; PM Wong gives him a warm hug

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Singapore on Wednesday at the invitation of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, was given a famously colourful Indian welcome featuring the dhol (Indian drums), folk dancers, and joyous cries of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”, as the Indian festival of Ganesh Chaturthi comes just three days from now.

In the afternoon, PM Wong posted a photo in which he gives a warm hug to PM Modi, and he captioned it: “Welcome PM @narendramodi to Singapore! Delighted to have the chance to catch up over a meal at the Istana, before the official meetings tomorrow.”

The Indian prime minister’s visit to Singapore comes almost exactly a year after then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to India for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, held in September 2023.

While Lawrence Wong took over as the “4G” leader of Singapore in mid-May 2024, just a few weeks after that, Narendra Modi took oath in early-June 2024 for a historic third term as the prime minister of India.

The Singapore trip of PM Modi has been preceded by a visit to Brunei Darussalam. “It ushers in a new era of even stronger India-Brunei ties,” Modi posted on X yesterday.

In Singapore, Modi is meeting a host of dignitaries, including the Indian-origin President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam.