India summoned Singapore’s envoy in New Delhi to formally protest Singaporean Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong’s controversial remarks on Indian Members of Parliament (MP).
In a speech in the Singaporean Parliament on Wednesday, PM Lee advocated for allowing public prosecutors to launch criminal investigations against the leader of the opposition. His comments came in the run-up to a vote in Parliament that allows authorities to investigate the “untruths” said by the leader during a scandal involving a former MP.
Citing the example of India and Israel, Lee highlighted how India’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Israel’s founder, David Ben Gurion, started with “high ideals and noble values,” before adding that while endeavours like these begin with “passionate intensity,” the “momentum and drive” sustaining them becomes difficult to maintain.
“They start out as healthy democracies, with idealism and zeal… But over time, the tone of the society changes. All too easily – a slip here, a blind eye there, a fudge, a trim – and gradually things go downhill,” Lee added.
Giving the example of the Indian Parliament, he spoke of how “Nehru’s India” has now become one where “almost half the MPs in the Lok Sabha have criminal charges pending against them.” He also talked about the deterioration of democracy in Israel, pointing to how it was recently held four general elections in two years due to a failure to form government.
Following his inflammatory remarks, Simon Wong, Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, was summoned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), wherein he was told that Lee’s comments were “uncalled for.”
India does not typically summon envoys from its key partners. India and Singapore have historically shared close economic and cultural ties, in large part due to the large number of Indian diaspora in Singapore. The two countries are also closely partnered in the defence sector and have signed several bilateral pacts over the last ten years, some of which allow for India and Singapore’s navies to use each other’s bases and rely on one another for logistical support.
India’s MEA is particularly concerned about the impact Lee’s remarks could have on upcoming and ongoing local elections in India. Furthermore, Lee’s attempts to memorialise Nehru have angered the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has historically criticised the former Indian PM.