Amid multilateralism challenges, Singapore will do its best to make friends with like-minded partners: PM Lee

NEW DELHI: Singapore would much prefer a multilateral framework that “works for everyone” but with that under pressure amid superpower tensions, the country will do its best to make friends with like-minded partners, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Sep 10).

Speaking to reporters at the end of a three-day working trip to the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in New Delhi, Mr Lee said there was “significant” scope for such bilateral partnerships, citing the upgrade in ties with the United Kingdom (UK) as an example.

Singapore and the UK on Saturday said relations between the two countries would be elevated to a “strategic partnership”, and pledged to deepen cooperation in areas including defence and the economy. This followed a meeting between Mr Lee and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak at the sidelines of the summit.

Singapore also has “quite a full account” with the European Union, with agreements covering trade and digital partnership, said Mr Lee.

The Prime Minister noted that with multilateral cooperation “bound to be affected” amid the current geopolitical environment, a possible first step would be to “try and preserve what exists of the multilateral framework and not let that weaken further”.

The second step is to consider having “smaller groups of like-minded people”. 

“People who can work together and … try to make progress on a second-best basis,” he added. “Not everyone is there, but those of us who are all participating, we can work together and I think that is happening.”

Apart from Mr Sunak, Mr Lee also met other leaders on the summit’s sidelines, such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, World Trade Organization director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Beyond expressions of interest in cooperating with Singapore on specific projects, the bilateral meetings also provided the opportunity to exchange views on global developments.

“(It’s) understanding their perspectives on our region and they wanting our perspective on what's happening in the world … how we see relations with China, how we see the tensions affecting Southeast Asia and therefore, how we can maintain our relationship with the other countries in this environment,” Mr Lee said.

“I think that these are very valuable contacts.”

G20 COMMUNIQUE “COMPREHENSIVE”

The annual summit of the G20 economies saw attendees including United States President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the two-day event, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Premier Li Qiang leading the two countries’ delegations respectively.

Asked how significant the absence of the Russian and Chinese leaders was for discussions on key global issues, Mr Lee said: “I do not know the reasons why President Xi was not able to come or President Putin, but obviously it would have been better if they were here.

“Nevertheless, the discussions … proceeded.”

India, which holds the G20 rotating presidency this year, announced that a joint declaration was reached on the first day of the weekend summit.

This early agreement came as a surprise amid deep divisions within the bloc over the war in Ukraine. Western nations earlier pushed for strong condemnation of Russia in the declaration, while other countries demanded a focus on broader economic issues.

The consensus declaration avoided condemnation of Russia for the war in Ukraine, but highlighted the human suffering the conflict had caused and called on all states not to use force to grab territory.

Mr Lee said India had “a very difficult job” as this year’s G20 president and host, amid the uncertain international environment.

“So, they had to work very hard to pull all the pieces together and get agreement on the items of cooperation and in particular, get agreement on what to say about the situation in Ukraine.

“There was a formulation last year which was accepted by everybody, but it was not acceptable this year so they had to negotiate again. To their credit they came up with a form of words and we were able to have a communique.”

Mr Lee noted that the joint communique was comprehensive, covering “a lot of ground” for cooperation. The subjects raised ranged from artificial intelligence and reforms at global bodies such as the United Nations, to issues concerning the developing countries.

“Many issues are comprehensively covered. We also put in principles how to address them, but the specifics (and) the actual substance of the cooperation, I think that progress takes a lot of time in this environment,” he told reporters.

“It's partly because I don’t trust you, you don't trust me so therefore, we can't quite strike a deal. But it's also because I don't want you to have a successful result and so I would rather there not be an outcome … There is some of this dynamic in play,” Mr Lee added.

“In that context, I think we did well to have a communique and to have a meeting where substantial issues were discussed and the views were aired.”

Speaking in Mandarin towards the end of his doorstop, Mr Lee added that even if complexities in the current global environment did not allow for bold or innovative moves, discussions on partnership opportunities could still provide learning opportunities on how to move more rapidly in the future.

Noting that this was how international cooperation works, he stressed that not every instance would yield great results - but parties would just have to keep at it.