New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and reaffirmed their commitment to boost India-Japan cooperation in connectivity and commerce. They further agreed to strengthen people-to-people linkages.
Taking to his social media platform 'X', PM Modi tweeted, "Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @kishida230 met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further bolster India-Japan cooperation in key sectors like connectivity and commerce. They also agreed to boost people-to-people linkages."
Earlier in the day, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the G20 summit being hosted under India’s presidency this year.
The meeting was held at the G20 summit venue, Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan. Kishida arrived in the national capital yesterday to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
At the G20 summit in India, Kishida plans to show Japan's stance of proactively contributing to various global issues, based on the results of the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May, Japanese media reported.
"The agenda in India will include global food security, which has been affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as development, digital transformation and other international issues," according to NHK.
The cooperation between India and Japan continues to deepen over time as the two nations share historical linkages with exchanges between the two countries being traced to the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced in Japan.
As both nations deal with the challenges provided by an aggressive China in the Asian region, India's political ties to Japan have grown significantly over the past few decades.
In the lead-up to both the G20 and G7 summits, the visit of Japanese PM Kishida to India in March bolstered further commitment between the two countries to work together for the realisation of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.
Moreover, Japan is India's 13th-largest trading partner, whereas India is Japan's 18th-largest. With Japan's private sector investment in India steadily increasing, it is among the top five foreign investors in India.
This is the first time that the G20 Summit is taking place under India’s presidency. Formed in 1999, the G20 was set up to maintain global financial stability by incorporating middle-income countries.
A G20 Leaders’ declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the G20 Summit, stating Leaders’ commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings. The next G20 presidency is going to be taken over by Brazil in 2024, followed by South Africa in 2025. (ANI)
