PM Modi meets Japan’s Shinzo Abe; regional security, defence high on agenda

At the picturesque city of Yamanashi this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Also, Mr Abe will host PM Modi at his holiday home in Yamanashi for a private dinner today following which both the leaders will travel to Tokyo by train. On Sunday afternoon, after lunching together, both the Premiers will visit a company which is a leading manufacturer of factory automation.

As he arrived in Tokyo to attend the 13th India-Japan annual summit, the Premier took to his Tiwtter account and tweeted about his meeting with Mr Abe will add new strength to the friendship between the two countries.

Delighted to meet PM @AbeShinzo in the picturesque prefecture of Yamanashi. pic.twitter.com/exqIXIiStw

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 28, 2018

Beginning today, the two-day summit will aim to review the progress in ties and deepen strategic dimension of the bilateral relationship.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, “PM Narendra Modi arrives in Tokyo to a warm welcome for his 5th Annual Summit with Abe Shinzo. Japan is one of the few countries that India has this mechanism of annual summits, reflecting the extraordinary depth of our engagement.”

Before leaving for Japan, Narendra Modi said on a statement on Friday that India and Japan as a ‘winning combination’ and described the island nation was New Delhi’s most trusted partner in its economic and technological modernisation.

Modi also pointed out that since he became the Prime Minister of the country in September 2014, this will be his 12th meeting with Mr Abe.

PM Modi will engage with Abe on a range of issues including regional security and defence. They will also be discussing about the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, during the summit.

India is also hoping to have some kind of integration between the Japanese programme which is called Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative and PM Modi’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is the largest medicare programme of its kind globally.

Prime Minister in his statement mentioned that projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail and Dedicated Freight Corridors does reflect ‘strength of our economic engagement’.

“Japan is also at the forefront of engaging in our national initiatives, such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Start Up India’… Japanese investors have faith in India’s economic future, which is marked with myriad opportunities,” PM Modi said.

During the summit, PM Modi will attend a series of business events and forums. He will also address the Indian community function in Tokyo.

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