Takaichi, Modi Agree to Deepen Japan-India Strategic Cooperation

New Delhi, July 2 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on Thursday affirmed their intentions to deepen the two countries’ strategic cooperation with the aim of achieving common goals, including realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. After their meeting in New Delhi, the two leaders released a joint statement voicing grave concern over economic coercion, likely with China in mind. Takaichi, on a three-day visit to India from Wednesday, said in a joint press conference after the bilateral summit that she aims to elevate Japan-India relations to a higher level, while Modi called for achieving the two countries’ shared ambition of global progress. They also announced documents on about 120 projects on cooperation between Japanese and Indian companies, including around 2 trillion yen of investments. Takaichi and Modi agreed to promote collaboration regarding defense equipment as part of the efforts to deepen strategic cooperation, and to hold a two-plus-two meeting of the two nations’ foreign and defense ministers by the end of the year. The two leaders also agreed to work together on bolstering supply chains for critical goods and adopted a joint declaration calling for economic security cooperation. They decided to launch a bilateral dialogue on strengthening India’s oil stockpiling system. Japan will support India’s bid to become a member of the International Energy Agency. Tokyo will also help India establish some 1,000 biogas plants to produce energy from cow dung. Takaichi and Modi also confirmed that Japan and India will work together on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, including joint research and development on large language models, and they published a joint document on cooperation in the AI sector. The summit, which comprised two parts, a small-group session and an expanded meeting, lasted about 90 minutes. Takaichi and Modi also had lunch together. The Japanese leader’s visit to India is part of so-called shuttle diplomacy, or reciprocal visits by the two countries’ leaders. It is Takaichi’s first trip to the South Asian nation since she took office last October. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]