Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to visit India for a two-day trip on Monday.
Since the 1st summit held in March 2022, the two sees ia a significant time to engage on a bilateral level as both New Delhi and Tokyo are holding the Presidencies of the G20 and G7, respectively. The partnership between both countries ranges in multiple areas like defence and security, trade and investment, Education, healthcare, and critical and emerging technologies.
During Kishida's visit to India, converging interests on important global challenges, such as food and health security, energy transitions, and economic stability, can be worked on by the two nations.
Official spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Arindam Bagchi said that Japan is a "very important partner", and he stressed that India looks forward to the exchange of views.
However, he did not reveal details regarding the talking points of the discussion that will take place between two leaders.
Duri the visit, Kishida will hold a meeting with PM Narendra Modi. The two leaders will discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
India and Japan share 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership'. India-Japan relations were elevated to 'Global Partnership' in 2000, 'Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2006, and 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2014.
Regular Annual Summits have been held between India and Japan since 2006 (the last Annual Summit was held in March 2022 in New Delhi).
New Delhi and Tokyo are also a part of the Quadrilateral Strategic Dialogue (QUAD), alongside Australia and the US. It is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries. The Quad is dedicated to working with regional allies who support a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Furthermore, the Defense cooperation between the two nations has also emerged as one of the key areas of engagement.
The successful conduct of the first fighter jet exercise "Veer Guardian" in January 2023 in Japan between our two countries was a significant milestone. This was followed closely by the 4th "Dharma Guardian" army exercise, which was conducted for the first time in Japan.
Maritime security cooperation including Navy-to-Navy cooperation has seen significant progress with a large number of exercises being conducted. In November last year, India took part in the International Fleet Review in Japan and the Malabar exercise off the Coast of Japan. This was preceded by the JIMEX between our two navies in September.
In terms of commercial and economic ties, the bilateral trade between India and Japan stood at USD 20.75 billion last year, which was the largest ever.
Japan is also the 5th largest investor in India as a large number of Japanese companies are exploring opportunities in India in several sectors.
Moreover, India and Japan have an Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP) under which both countries are cooperating to promote industrial cooperation between the two countries.
A Roadmap under IJICP (India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership) was launched at the Annual Summit held in New Delhi in March 2022.
---extract from ANI
