AMN / Tokyo
India and Japan have called for a peaceful, stable, free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, says India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Thursday.
“There is optimism on both sides” about the potential of future ties” she said .
She held a bilateral meeting with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties between India and Japan.
Delivering a press statement after 9th India-Japan Foreign Minister’s Strategic Dialogue, she said, India welcomed Japanese investments in India’s flagship programmes like smart cities.
She spoke about the ease of doing business in India. Mrs Swaraj also emphasized the need to act on terror and its sponsors. Recalling the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 visit to Japan, she said, Mr Modi will visit Japan this year.
Earlier, addressing the Indian Diaspora at the Vivekanand Cultural Centre this morning, Mrs Swaraj said, India’s relations with Japan have strengthened under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
She lauded the contribution of the diaspora in strengthening India’s relations with Japan and create a positive image about India in Japan. Ms Swaraj said India Japan relations are free from any complexities.
During her visit, the two sides will review all aspects of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest. The External Affairs Minister reached Tokyo last evening on a three-day visit to Japan.
“The Special Strategic and Global Partnership between our two countries that was established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Japan in 2014, has been constantly strengthened through our mutual efforts. There is optimism on both sides about the potential of our future ties,” Ms Swaraj said addressing the media on the sidelines of the 9th India-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Tokyo.
Addressing the Indian diaspora, EAM @SushmaSwaraj said that India's relations with Japan have strengthened under the leadership of PM @narendramodi and Japanese PM Abe pic.twitter.com/0EcJLcWWbF
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 29, 2018
“Our Special Strategic and Global Partnership has acquired a broader significance in the current global context. Our growing convergence on economic and strategic issues is important for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” she said in presence of her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.
She also said, “India has emerged as the fastest-growing large economy in the world. It is a global hub for manufacturing and innovation”.
Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India is strongly committed to improving the “ease of doing business”, she said.
Referring to her discussions with the Japanese Foreign Minister, she said, “In my discussions with Foreign Minister Kono, I emphasized that in India’s transformational journey, we regard Japan as a natural partner”.
“We believe that there is vast scope to combine our relative advantages, whether of capital, technology or human resources,”
she said and referred to Indian government’s flagship initiatives such as Smart City, Digital India, Start Up India and said these
initiatives always welcome “Japan’s entrepreneurs with new opportunities”.
“We are happy to note that Japanese investments in India, both public and private, are on the rise. Foreign Minister Kono and I had very productive discussions on how India and Japan are today working closely to build robust ties in High Speed Rail, Information and Communications Technology, Innovation, Space Science, Healthcare and Food Processing, to name just a few,” Ms Swaraj said.
On the occasion, Mr Kono said India was Japan’s most important partner in its Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.
“Our Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy and India’s Act East Policy should be further merged,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that India and Japan, along with the US and Australia, are also part of the recently revived four-nation group of a quad that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
Both sides also inked various papers and exchanged documents including on Mumbai Metro and developmental projects in the north east.