NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarking on a visit to Japan on Saturday for the annual summit with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the special strategic and global partnership that the two sides share is expected to get a further impetus.
This will be Modi’s third visit to Japan for the summit and his 12th meeting with Abe since 2014.
Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and development aid under Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme, of which India is the largest recipient, will be the key focus areas during the summit.
At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the Indo-Pacific will be a major topic for discussion during the summit on Monday.
“If you make a comparison, you will see that there are a number of areas of convergence, commonality and common vision,” Gokhale said.
“The two leaders will obviously discuss how we can take this vision forward and present it to the world and try to see how we can concretise it.”
Last year, a quad comprising India, Japan, the US and Australia was revived that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Gokhale said one of the areas forming a part of this discussion will be how India and Japan can collaborate in the context of the Indo-Pacific in Asia and in Africa and on capacity building and on infrastructure projects in a trilateral format — India, Japan plus one.
Similar views were reflected by Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu during an interaction organised by New Delhi-based think-tank Brookings India earlier this week.
“I am sure in the (upcoming) meeting, the two leaders will discuss the region in more concrete terms,” Hiramatsu said.
He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc has to play a central role in the Indo-Pacific region, a view that India also holds. — IANS
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