New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held “meaningful” talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida to strengthen bilateral ties including in the economic, trade and energy sectors and six agreements were signed between the two countries. Japan announced an investment target of Rs 3,20,000 crore in India under the Investment Promotion Partnership in 2014. Japan announced the Sustainable Development Initiative for the Northeast region after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
India and Japan announced a clean energy partnership after talks between Prime Minister Modi and his counterpart Kishida. Jointly addressing the media after the meeting, Prime Minister Modi said, “The deepening of the India-Japan partnership is not only important for both the countries, but it will also lead to peace, progress in the Indo-Pacific region and at the global level as well. Prosperity and stability will be encouraged.” He said that the world is still grappling with COVID-19 and its ill-effects, there are still obstacles in the process of getting the global economy back on track and geopolitical events are also posing new challenges.
Modi said Japan’s cooperation in ambitious projects such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor in the country and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail has been remarkable. “We are grateful for this contribution,” he said. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project is progressing well.
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The Prime Minister said, “Today India presents immense potential for ‘Make in India for the world’ and in this context, Japanese companies have been our brand ambassadors for a long time. “Our clean energy tie-up, taken in this direction, will prove to be a decisive step,” Modi said.
Prime Minister Modi said that both India and Japan understand the importance of safe, reliable and stable energy supply and it is essential to achieve the goal of sustainable economic development and tackle the problem of climate change. At the same time, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida said, “We discussed the situation in Ukraine. The Russian attack is a serious matter and has shaken international norms.”
Referring to Russian military action on Ukraine, Kishida said attempts to unilaterally change the status quo through the use of force would not be allowed. The Japanese Prime Minister said that India and Japan should work together for an ‘open and free’ Indo-Pacific. Kishida arrived here at 3:40 pm with a high-level delegation. This is his first visit to India as the head of the Japanese government.
The Prime Minister’s Office tweeted, “(PM Modi) strengthening friendship with Japan. There was a fruitful conversation between the Prime Minister – Modi and Kishida – in Delhi. The two leaders discussed measures to strengthen economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the agenda of talks between Modi and Kishida included regional and global issues of mutual interest besides multi-faceted bilateral ties. He tweeted, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives his counterpart Kishida for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit. The (dialogue) agenda includes bilateral relations of mutual interest in addition to our multifaceted bilateral ties.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Prime Minister will leave from here at 8 am on Sunday. Kishida will travel to Cambodia after the conclusion of his India tour. Before leaving for India, Kishida had said that the Russian attack on Ukraine was unacceptable and that such action would never be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Japanese Prime Minister said that he would also discuss with the leaders of India and Cambodia regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Prime Minister Modi had spoken to Kishida in October 2021 after taking over as the Japanese Prime Minister. Both sides expressed their desire to further strengthen the Special Strategic and Global Partnership. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The annual summit between Modi and the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to be held in Guwahati in December 2019, but had to be canceled due to widespread protests there over the Citizenship Amendment Act. After that in 2020 and 2021 also it could not be conducted due to the COVID-19 epidemic.