Should explore ways to give new momentum to India-Japan partnership: EAM Jaishankar
| 2024-03-07
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo on March 7, 2024.
India and Japan have made good progress in defence and security relations, says EAM Jaishankar
India and Japan should explore ways to impart a new momentum to their bilateral relationship, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said as he met his Japanese counterpart Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue in Tokyo on Thursday (March 7, 2024).
According to EAM Jaishankar, they agreed on the need for new steps to make this relationship prepared for, and responsive to, the emerging geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological trends, and as well to the growing demands of the people of the two countries to get to know each other better. “Our talks provided strategic guidance to our teams to realize the vision of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, and the expectations that our leaders have of this partnership,” he said.
‘Good Progress in Defence and Security Relations’
During their discussions, the two ministers welcomed the good progress in defence and security relations and took stock of the progress in the Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation framework.
“Today, just as we are meeting here in Tokyo, the Indian Army is conducting joint exercise with Japanese Self Defense Force, in the Rajasthan State of India. The three branches of our military and Coast Guard are productively engaged with their Japanese counterparts, with greater ease through the newly operationalized reciprocal partnership arrangement. There have been exchanges about cooperation possibilities in the areas of jointness, and new domains like cyber and space,” EAM Jaishankar pointed out.
Scope for Quantum Jump in Economic Cooperation
According to EAM Jaishankar, when it comes to economic cooperation, “we see a lot of potential for quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs, as we enter a decade of take-off growth. We are again, as the Minister underlined, seeking to realise our shared target of 5 trillion Yen in terms of overall investment”.
He added that the Government of India remains committed to the continuous improvement in the infrastructure environment. He also underlined the importance India attaches to the timely execution of flagship projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway, which is India’s first Shinkansen project.
Welcoming Japan’s development role in India’s Northeast, EAM Jaishankar said this will be crucial in transforming the connectivity and industrial landscape of that region. “It will benefit not only our two countries but also other countries in the neighbourhood through a network of forward and backward linkages. We further agreed to explore coordinated development partnership initiatives by our agencies in third countries,” he said.
The two sides also concurred on the need to work together to enhance each other’s economic security and supply chain resilience by taking a strategic view of trade and technology. “In this context, we discussed possibilities in the semiconductor ecosystem, green technologies and digital payments by leveraging our complementary strengths,” EAM Jaishankar said.
The talks also covered people-to-people engagement through education, tourism and culture as well as the shared interest in providing greater avenues of mobility for Indian talent and for Indian skills to Japan. “Expanding the scope of the existing arrangements, and helping promote Japanese language teaching and testing throughout the country would be a natural first step,” he remarked.
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