Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Indian-origin Tharman Shanmugaratnam on his election as President of Singapore. He took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and said that he looks forward to strengthening the India-Singapore partnership. He said, “Hearty congratulations Tharman S on your election as the President of Singapore. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership.”

The 66-year-old economist will be Singapore’s ninth president; he won the polls with a vote share of 70.4 per cent. Tharman S defeated two Chinese-origin contenders in the country’s first contested presidential polls since 2011. His rivals Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian received 15. per cent and 13.88 per cent votes respectively.