A secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific area depends on close collaboration with India, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday at the India-Japan Forum in New Delhi.
Hayashi also referred to India as “a vital partner” in accomplishing the objective of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” set forward by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Both countries stated their desire to cooperate during the meeting in a number of areas, including crucial technology, and to deepen their “special strategic and global alliance” with New Delhi.
Hayashi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to begin a six-nation tour of South Asia and Africa. His visit to India will last two days. Later this week, he will also go to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs for India, described Japan as a “modernizer” that had “contributed to several revolutions in India” over the years, including the introduction of the Maruti and metro trains.
The second revolution, the metro, he claimed, had a significant influence on urban infrastructure whereas the Maruti revolution was not just about a car but also changed the country’s lifestyle, way of thinking, and culture.
Jaishankar continued, “High speed rail is now being developed as the third revolution. After the project is finished, Indians will experience its effects well beyond the railway industry. Critical technologies represent a further revolution in this relationship and provide enormous opportunities for cooperation between the two nations.
The Japanese foreign minister spoke with the Indian foreign minister on several facets of the bilateral relationship, from promoting the outcomes of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May to forging tighter strategic partnerships, particularly with regard to the Indo-Pacific.
In a reference to the G7 Summit, Hayashi reaffirmed the group’s pledge to reject efforts to change the Indo-Pacific status quo by force, making allusion to China’s more assertive regional policies
