Japanese PM To Arrive In Delhi Today For Maiden India Visit, Will Hold Bilateral Talks With PM Modi

Kishida, who is on a two-day visit to India after assuming office, will take part in the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, besides holding bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi

(File Photo/ Getty Images)

New Delhi: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be arriving in the national capital on Saturday for his first India visit.

Kishida, who will be on a two-day visit to India after assuming office, will take part in the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, besides holding bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi, according to the news agency ANI.

The India-Japan Annual Summit had taken place in Tokyo in October 2018.

Kishida's visit has assumed significance for both sides because of the Western imposing sanctions against Russia for its military operation in Ukraine with the major oil-consuming countries closely tracking the impact of the crisis on oil prices.

The Summit will offer an opportunity to review and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse areas besides exchanging views on regional and global issues of mutual interest in order to advance the partnership for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Modi had spoken to PM Kishida on phone in October 2021 soon after the latter had assumed office.  

India and Japan have multi-faceted cooperation as partners within the ambit of their "Special Strategic and Global Partnership".

How did India-Japan relations strengthen?

Several important decisions have been implemented that were taken since Modi's visit to Japan in 2014 when Shinzo Abe was the PM.

Japan had announced an investment of Yen 3.5 trillion for India including public and private participation in various projects.

As of now, total of 1,455 Japanese companies are present in India and 11 Japan Industrial Townships (JIT) have been established, including Neemrana in Rajasthan and Sri City in Andhra Prades. These townships have Japanese companies. Japan is also India's fifth-largest source of FDI.

Key infrastructure projects that are currently underway with the help of Japanese assistance, including Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor, Dedicated Freight Corridor, Metro projects, and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project.

India and Japan also signed a "Digital Partnership" in October 2018. At present, Indian startups have raised more than $10 billion from Japanese Venture Capitalists. India and Japan have also launched a private sector driven fund-of-funds to invest in technology startups in India which has raised $100 million so far.