Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo.
Highlight
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will attend the annual summit during his stay in India
- The India-Japan annual summit was last held in Tokyo in October 2018.
- India and Japan had signed the first “Digital Partnership”
In his first visit to India after assuming office and amid the current Ukrainian crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will attend the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit during his two-day stay in New Delhi, also with PM Narendra Will hold bilateral talks. Modi.
The India-Japan annual summit was last held in Tokyo in October 2018. Kishida’s visit to India assumes significance as Western countries are imposing sanctions against Russia for its military operation in Ukraine, while major oil-consuming countries are keeping a close eye on it. The impact of the Ukrainian crisis on oil prices. India and Japan have multifaceted cooperation as partners within the scope of the “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”.
The summit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review and strengthen bilateral cooperation in diverse fields as well as exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest so as to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. to take their partnership forward. and beyond.
Earlier, PM Modi spoke to PM Kishida over the phone in October 2021, soon after taking over as the Prime Minister of Japan. Both sides expressed their desire to further strengthen the “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”. Since the visit of PM Modi to Japan in 2014, tremendous progress has been made with the implementation of several important decisions taken by both the countries. Shinzo Abe was then the PM of Japan. Japan had announced an investment of 3.5 trillion yen for India, which included public and private partnerships in various projects.
At present there are 1455 Japanese companies in India. Eleven Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) have been established, including Neemrana in Rajasthan and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, which have the largest number of Japanese companies. Apart from being the largest growth partner, Japan is also India’s 5th largest source of FDI. However, several infrastructure projects are currently underway with the help of Japanese assistance, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, dedicated freight corridor, metro projects and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project.
India and Japan had signed a “Digital Partnership” in October 2018. Currently, Indian startups have raised over USD 10 billion from Japanese venture capitalists. India and Japan have also launched a private sector-run fund-of-fund to invest in technology startups in India, which has raised USD 100 million so far. Both sides also have cooperation in the field of ICT, 5G, under-sea cables, telecommunications and network security.
There has also been progress in skill development. The total number of Japan-India Manufacturing Institutes (JIMs) is now 19 (in 2018 it was 8). These institutes have been set up by Japanese companies based in India for imparting training to skilled workers. Japanese companies have also set up seven Japanese Endowed Courses (JECs) in various colleges, while 220 Indian youth have been placed as interns in Japan under the “Technical Intern Training Program (TITP)”.
Last year, India also signed the “Specified Skilled Workers Agreement”. The Japanese side has started conducting examinations for nursing care under this program from January this year. The “Agreement on the Mutual Provision of Supplies and Services between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Indian Armed Forces (or ACSA)”, which was signed on 9 September 2020, entered into force on 11 July 2021.
The two countries signed a convention on a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. They signed the reciprocal provision of “Supply and Services Agreement (RPSS)”. Meanwhile, the inaugural 2+2 ministerial meeting was held in November 2019. A decision was also taken at the 2017 summit to set up an “India-Japan Act East Forum”. It aims to coordinate development projects in the northeastern parts of India in the areas of connectivity, forest management, disaster risk reduction and capacity building. Several projects are underway including upgradation of highways in Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
(with ANI inputs)
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