Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and discussed enhancing bilateral security and defence cooperation, including in the area of defence manufacturing.
Appreciating the growing economic ties between India and Japan, the leaders agreed that both sides should work jointly towards implementing their decision to have 5 trillion yen in public and private investment and financing from Japan to India in the next five years.
PM Kishida also hosted a dinner for PM Modi, and the two leaders exchanged views on enhancing bilateral relations in various spheres as well as on some regional and global issues, the External Affairs Ministry said.
The two leaders also concurred that the next 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting may be held in Japan at the earliest.
Prime Minister Modi highlighted the steps taken by the Government of India to improve ease of doing business and logistics and urged Prime Minister Kishida to support greater investments by Japanese companies in India.
He said such investments would help in creating resilient supply chains and would be mutually beneficial. Modi also appreciated that Japanese companies were increasing their investments in India and that 24 Japanese companies had successfully applied under the various PLI schemes.
The two leaders noted the progress in implementation of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project and welcomed the signing of exchange of notes of the 3rd tranche loan for this project. They highlighted the increasing importance of information and communication technologies and agreed to encourage greater collaboration between private sectors for development of next generation communication technologies.
The leaders also discussed possibilities of collaboration in critical and emerging technologies such as 5G, Beyond 5G and semiconductors, and on deepening cooperation in the area of Clean Energy including green hydrogen.
Emphasising on boosting people-to-people linkages, Prime Minister Kishida noted that such linkages should become the backbone of bilateral relations. They took note of the progress in implementation of the Specified Skilled Workers (SSW) programme and agreed to further scale up this programme.
Prime Minister Modi raised the issue of further easing of travel restrictions in order to facilitate quarantine free entry into Japan for travellers from India carrying Covaxin and Covishield vaccination certificates.
The two leaders concurred that the India-Japan Act East Forum was useful in prioritising development of India’s North East Region, and looked forward to early implementation of various projects which were identified by the two sides during the Annual Summit.
Modi and Kishida also discussed the recent global and regional developments, noted the convergences in their respective approaches to the Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed their commitment towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
In this context, they welcomed the progress in the Quad’s contemporary and constructive agenda such as vaccines, scholarships, critical technologies and infrastructure.
Modi thanked Kishida for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and members of his delegation during the visit. PM Kishida extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit Japan for the next Annual Bilateral Summit, which was accepted with pleasure.
