Japan sees India as an indispensable partner |
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. In a strong statement of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the Japanese Prime Minister calling India an indispensable partner. Kishida also announced a package of 75 billion Dollars to bolster Japan`s free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) policy. In his Indo-Pacific statement, Kishida referred to the Ukraine conflict seven times as he condemned Russia`s actions in Ukraine saying Moscow`s aggression had “obliged” the world to face the most fundamental challenge of defending peace. The Indian side was silent on the Ukraine issue but Kishida recalled Modi`s `this-isn`t-the-era-of-war` remark in a media statement and Japanese authorities after the meeting said that both leaders agreed any effort to unilaterally change the status quo anywhere in the world can`t be condoned. Kishida said he and Modi had agreed to uphold the international order based on the rule of law. There were talks related to Chinese assertiveness, but the Ladakh stand-off didn`t figure in the discussions. Modi and Kishida concurred that any unilateral action meant to disturb the status quo in both the South and East China Seas would be unacceptable. The two leaders agreed they had a shared responsibility of maintaining and strengthening the international order, based on the rule of law. The Japanese Prime Minister officially invited Modi to the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May and Modi said he was looking forward to welcoming the Japanese Prime Minister in September.
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