NEW DELHI:  India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida on Monday, March 20,  held wide-ranging bilateral discussions.

The discussions between the two leaders were held in New Delhi after Kishida arrived in India this morning on a two-day official visit.

Also, he sent Modi an invitation to the G7 leaders' summit, which will take place in Hiroshima in May of this year. 
Both presidents pledged to strengthen the India-Japan global strategic alliance, highlighting how crucial it is for an Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful, stable, and affluent.

After the bilateral meetings, Modi spoke to the media and cited India's G20 and Japan's G7 leadership as the ideal opportunities to collaborate on both sides' top goals for the benefit of the world.

“Today, I told Japan PM Kishida in detail about the priorities of our G20 presidency. A key foundation of our G20 presidency is to voice the priorities of the Global South. A culture that believes in The World Is One Family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), believes in going ahead by bringing everyone together,” Modi said.He also expressed his gratitude to Kishida for his invitation to the G7 leaders' summit.

I will once more have the chance to invite PM Fumio Kishida to India for the G20 Leaders' Conference in September of this year, Modi remarked.

The prime minister welcomed his Japanese counterpart to India and stated, "In the past year, PM Fumio Kishida and I have met multiple times, and each time, I have sensed his positivity and commitment to the bilateral relationship between India and Japan. This momentum will be helped to continue by his presence today.

Modi continued, "That is why we have launched this programme. Our shared respect for the rule of law on international platforms and our shared democratic ideals serve as the foundation of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

His "strategy for a free and open Indo-Pacific" was launched by Kishida "on Indian soil". Yet, it is unknown exactly what his proposal for a free Indo-Pacific would entail.

"Our economic relations with India, which are expanding quickly, will not only help that country's continued development but also open up big business opportunities for Japan. During the bilateral talks, the Japanese prime minister remarked, "In this regard, we applaud the steady progress being made towards realising 5 trillion yen of public and private investment in financing from Japan to India in five years.

"We will keep pursuing decarbonization and energy goals. The Japan-India tourist exchange will take place in 2023 to boost our exchanges through travel. I appreciate the renewal of our Memorandum of Cooperation on Japanese language instruction," he said.

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