New Delhi [India], November 19 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday called Japan a "key contributor" to India's economic development and underscored the significance of the India-Japan Special Strategic Global Partnership in promoting "regional peace, international stability, and global prosperity."
In his virtual address at the 7th India-Japan Indo-Pacific Forum and 10th India-Japan Track 1.5 Dialogue, the minister highlighted the convergence of India's Act East Policy and Japan's vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, and stressed the need to set targets and work towards realising them, particularly in areas such as clean energy, semiconductors, and economic cooperation.
"Japan remains a key contributor to India's economic development as we strive to realise the target of 5 trillion yen investment by 2027. However, trade figures remain below expectations. In a world under flux, we must deliberate on the urgent need to enhance the quality of our economic cooperation," Jaishankar said.
Sharing a post on X on Tuesday, Jaishankar further said, "India - Japan Special Strategic Global Partnership serves a cause of regional peace, international stability and global prosperity. It is a bilateral relationship of great trust and growing substance. We have come so far in the last decade that it is important to develop ambitious targets and work towards realising them. Our convergences are built on the alignment between India's Act-East Policy, our Indo-Pacific vision of SAGAR, and Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision, as well as our shared support for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). We also work together on the Indo-Pacific Oceans' Initiative (IPOI), where Japan is to co-lead the maritime trade, transport and connectivity pillar. As we expand common interests and forge new modes of collaboration, our strategic partnership will progress accordingly."
"As we expand common interest and forge new collaborations, our strategic partnership has progressed accordingly. Bilaterally, the clean energy partnership, semiconductor supply chain partnership all reflect the contemporary agenda. The goal is to promote a reliable and resilient supply chain, trusted digital collaborations and secured green growth and I am confident that we will continue to think bold and act decisively to take it forward in an impactful way," he added.
Speaking on defence exchanges and exercises with Japan, Jaishankar said, "We have also seen greater frequency of defence exchanges and exercises, some breaking new ground. Moving to the next level including through defence equipment and technology cooperation is the task that awaits us. We are both members of the Quad and the interactive dynamic between the larger environment and the bilateral relationship is a beneficial one."
He added, "The enormous goodwill between our societies is yet to translate into intensive people-to-people connect. There is surely room to grow exchanges in education and tourism, or indeed in the movement of skilled workers. Recent initiatives from the Japanese side hold great promise and we look forward to realising them concretely in the near future. Today's dialogue friends provides an opportunity for an objective stocktaking and a practical strategizing on how to achieve the potential of our ties. I hope that participants use it to best effect."
Exchange between Japan and India is said to have begun in the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Indian culture, filtered through Buddhism, has had a great impact on Japanese culture, and this is the source of the Japanese people's sense of closeness to India.
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's visit to India in August 2000 provided the momentum to strengthen the Japan-India relationship. Mori and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to establish a "Global Partnership between Japan and India." Since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to India in April 2005, Japan-India annual summit meetings have been held in respective capitals, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
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