Narendra Modi Speaks To Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Over Telephone
The two touched upon a range of issues like the high-speed rail project and deepening economic ties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga on Friday held a telephonic conversation, touching upon a range of issues including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project and ways to deepen cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
In a tweet, Modi said it was agreed in the talks that stronger India-Japan ties would help meet the challenges of the current regional and global situation.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders emphasised that the economic architecture of a "free, open and inclusive" Indo-Pacific region must be premised on resilient supply chains, and in this context, welcomed cooperation between India, Japan and other like-minded countries.
"Had a very good conversation with PM Suga Yoshihide. We exchanged views on the tremendous progress in our relationship in the last few years, and the future direction of our Special Strategic and Global Partnership. @sugawitter," Modi tweeted.
He added, "We agreed that stronger India-Japan ties would help meet the challenges of the current regional and global situation. I look forward to working with PM Suga to further strengthen our all-round partnership."
In a statement, the Japanese foreign ministry said Suga expressed his intention to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of security and economy and to work with India towards achieving a "free and open Indo-Pacific".
Suga succeeded Shinzo Abe as Japanese prime minister. The India-Japan relationship witnessed major expansion under Abe's leadership.
The Japanese foreign ministry said Suga also stated that he would like to promote cooperation with India under multilateral frameworks such as Japan-Australia-India-US coalition.
It said the two prime ministers affirmed their intention to steadily advance the high-speed rail project.
"The two prime ministers also welcomed that the Memorandum of Cooperation on specified skilled workers would be signed in the near future, and affirmed their intention to facilitate people-to-people exchanges," it added.
In a statement, the MEA said Modi congratulated Suga on his appointment as prime minister of Japan and wished him success in achieving his goals.
"The two leaders agreed that the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership has made great advances over the last few years and expressed their intention to further strengthen this relationship based upon mutual trust and shared values," it said on the Modi-Suga telephonic talks.
The MEA said the two leaders concurred that the partnership between the two countries is even more relevant in today's times given the global challenges, including that of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said the two leaders appreciated the progress made in the economic partnership between the two countries, and in this context, welcomed the finalisation of the text of the agreement pertaining to specialised skilled workers.
"The Prime Minister extended an invitation to Prime Minister Suga to visit India for the annual bilateral summit, after improvement of the situation caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic," the MEA added.