Prime Minister of Japan calls on Prime Minister Modi
PM Modi today held discussions with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida to expand India-Japan strategic partnership for a world of work, stability and prosperity after the COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi said in his affidavit that first of all I extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Kishida and his representatives in India. Prime Minister Kishida and I have met several times in the last one year. And every time, I have felt his positivity and preference towards India-Japan relationship and therefore his visit today is very useful to maintain the momentum of our mutual cooperation.
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Our meeting today is special for another reason as well. This year India is chairing the G20 and Japan the G7 and hence this is a great opportunity to work closely with our allies and partner partners. Today I told Prime Minister Kishida about India’s G-20 presidency leases. An important pillar of our G20 presentation is compounding the partnership of the Global South. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam” believes in the past culture taking everyone along and that is why we have done it first.
PM Modi further said that the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is based on our shared democratic approach and respect for the rule of law on the international stage. Strengthening this partnership is important to both our countries, and it also promotes peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. In our conversation today, we reviewed the progress made regarding the future. We discussed defense equipment and technology cooperation, trade, health, and digital partnerships. We also discussed the importance of trusted supply chains in semiconductor and other critical technologies. Last year, we had set a target of 5 affiliations in India in the next 5 years, that is, Japanese investment of three lakh twenty thousand crore rupees. It is a matter of satisfaction that good progress has been made in this direction.
We are also moving fast on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed train. I am also happy that we are celebrating 2023 as the Year of Tourism Transformation and for this we have chosen the theme “Connecting Himalayas with Mount Fuji”.
He further said that today Prime Minister Kishida invited me for the G7 Leaders’ Summit to be held in Hiroshima in May. I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this. I will have the opportunity to welcome Prime Minister Kishida to India again a few months later for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September. Let me end my speech with the wish that our interactions and engagements continue in this manner and that India-Japan relations continue to touch new ones.
It added that Kishida had earlier said on Sunday that the purpose of his visit would be to further deepen the “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” between the two countries. He said that this year Japan is presiding over the G-7 while India is presiding over the G-20. I would like to anticipate views with Prime Minister Modi on the question of what should be the role of Japan and India in the international community.
Kishida said that with this, regarding the invincible Japan-India relations, I would like to reaffirm the further deepening of the strategic and global partnership between India and Japan.
He said that I would also see a win in India on a new plan for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. I will clearly state my thinking about the role of an open and open Indo-Pacific at this historic juncture.
(Also from Inputs language)