NEW DELHI: While India’s decision to withdraw from the prestigious Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) may not affect bilateral ties with Singapore, the two countries are struggling to organise a visit by Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, seen as significant for reviewing progress in relations. Balakrishnan was supposed to visit India in late April/early May this year but it had to be postponed as the dates, official sources said, clashed with the visit of Turkish President Recep Erdogan to India. Sources said there were no plans as of now to reschedule the visit.

Balakrishnan is currently in China on a visit seen as essential to mend strained ties with Beijing. China had not invited Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong for the OBOR conference which India had boycotted. India’s decision to not send its delegation to the Shangri-La Dialogue at the last moment though could add another dimension to ties with Singapore though even as officials from both sides insisted that it was not going to act as a dampener.

India withdrew from the Dialogue after it was informed by the organisers that the head of its delegation, MoS defence Subhash Bhamre, would be placed below Pakistan's General Zubair Hayat, chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee. The government decided to send Bhamre after defence minister Arun Jaitley pulled out because he was preoccupied with GST implementation.

The organiser, International Institute of Strategic Studies, held that Bhamre was too junior to participate in the main panel at the Dialogue which is acknowledged as the most significant forum for exchange of ideas between the Asia-Pacific defence ministers. Hayat though was accommodated in the main panel. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) refused to accept this arrangement.

After it faced criticism in 2015 for not sending its defence minister to the Dialogue, with experts raising doubts about the importance government attached to its Act East Policy, India sent then defence minister Manohar Parrikar last year to address SLD. Apart from helping India with urban solutions and smart cities, Singapore remains an increasingly significant partner for the government in defence, counter-terrorism and maritime security cooperation.

Official sources expressed hope that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj would soon host Balakrishnan for a meeting which will follow up on decisions taken by the the two governments during PM Modi’s summit meeting with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in October last year.

