India and Japan on Tuesday renewed their commitment to further strengthen their strategic ties and global partnership during a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
The two leaders also discussed the entire gamut of their bilateral ties and Modi conveyed his deepest condolences over the sudden demise of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The Prime Minister underlined the late Japanese leader's contributions in strengthening the bilateral partnership as well as his vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
Modi, who arrived here to attend the state funeral of Abe, met Kishida ahead of the ceremony and the two leaders renewed their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, and in working together in the region and in various international groupings and institutions.
"The two leaders had a productive exchange of views on further deepening bilateral relations. They also discussed a number of regional and global issues," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a brief statement. Paying respects to Abe, Modi said "I am feeling very sad about the sudden death of former premier Abe... He took Japan-India relations to a greater level and also expanded it in many areas." Modi recalled that when he visited Japan last time, he had a long conversation with Abe. "India is missing Shinzo Abe," he added."I am confident that under your leadership, India-Japan relations will deepen further and achieve greater heights," Modi told Kishida.
“Along with Abe San, you in the role of Foreign Minister have taken the India-Japan relationship to new heights and also expanded it further in many areas. And our friendship, the friendship of India and Japan, also played a major role in creating a global impact. And for all this, today, the people of India remember Abe San very much, remember Japan very much. India is always missing him in a way.
But I am confident that under your leadership, India-Japan relations will deepen further, and scale to greater heights. And I firmly believe that we will be able to play an appropriate role in finding solutions to the problems of the world,” Modi said.
On his part, Kishida thanked Modi for taking India-Japan ties to new heights and assured that he will continue to cooperate with him to realise the vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
Kishida visited India for the annual summit in March while Modi visited Japan for the Quad Leaders' Summit in May. "These meetings underscored the two leaders' commitment towards deepening India-Japan ties, particularly in the context of shaping a post-pandemic regional and global order," Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Japan.
BKwatra said there is deep convergence between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region.
