Connecting Himalayas with Mount Fuji, enjoying Golgappas, and discussing bilateral ties: All about PM Modi and Kishida meet

NEW DELHI: Besides discussing various crucial bilateral issues concerning India and Japan such as cooperation in the field of economy and security & defence, Free & Open Indo-Pacific (FIOP), during the 2-day visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to New Delhi, both sides also discussion seriously the issue of  people-to-people exchange.

The two leaders concurred on the promotion of the Japanese language education in India, and expressed their hope that such initiatives will contribute to the development of people-to-people and business exchanges between the two countries. Currently, despite India being second largest country in the world in terms of its students studying abroad, only 0.3 percent Indian student choose Japan as their destination for study.

Prime Minister Kishida noted that many cultural exchange projects were held last year to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and India, as well as the recent resumption of Japan’s programs to invite youths from abroad. He also expressed his intention to utilize the programs of technical intern training and specified skilled workers and to further promote academic exchanges and exchanges between municipalities.

Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the amended Memorandum of Cooperation between Japan and India in the Field of Japanese Language Education in India. Prime Minister Kishida noted the steady progress made in the construction of facilities at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad through the Japanese ODA (official Development Assistance) loan and expressed hope that this will lead to further bilateral exchanges of teachers and students, as well as opportunities of IT-related Indian talents to work at Japanese companies.

The two leaders also concurred to consider increasing the number of Indian students studying in Japan, and to promote tourism exchanges by designating the year 2023 as the “Japan-India tourism exchange year”.

Prime Minister Modi stated that he himself would be actively involved in increasing the number of foreign students.

“In 2019, we had set up the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership. Under this, we are increasing the competitiveness of Indian industry in areas such as logistics, food processing, MSME, textiles, machinery and steel. Today we also expressed happiness over the activeness of this partnership. We are also progressing fast on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail. I am also happy that we are celebrating 2023 as the Year of the Tourism Exchange  And for this we have chosen the theme “Connecting Himalayas with Mount Fuji,” PM Modi said on Monday.

Modi laid out various fields of bilateral cooperation in economic and economy, diplomacy, security and defence. “The India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is based on our shared democratic values, and respect for the rule of law in the international arena. Strengthening this partnership is not only important for both our countries, it also promotes peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. In our conversation today, we have reviewed the progress made in our bilateral relations. We exchanged views on Defence Equipment and Technology collaboration, Trade, Health, and Digital partnership. We also had a fruitful discussion on the importance of reliable supply chains in semiconductor and other critical technologies.”

Modi said, “Last year, we had set a target of Japanese investment of 5 trillion yen in India in the next 5 years, that is, three lakh twenty thousand crore rupees. It is a matter of satisfaction that there has been good progress in this direction.”