Why Japanese PM Fumio Kishida’s India visit crucial?

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in India for his first visit to the country as the head of government. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bilateral talks on Saturday evening and leave Delhi on Sunday morning.

Kishida, a native of Hiroshima, was sworn in as a prime minister of Japan on October 04, 2021.

He was Japan’s Foreign Minister earlier. He has met PM Modi in that capacity four times. He also met the PM as Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council’s Chairman. He also visited India when he was the foreign minister. This is Kishida’s first visit to India after assuming office and also amid the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his two-day stay in New Delhi will take part in the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, besides holding bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi. The India-Japan Annual Summit had last taken place in Tokyo in October 2018.

This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of India-Japan diplomatic relations (28 April 1952).

India and Japan have multi-faceted cooperation as partners within the ambit of their "Special Strategic and Global Partnership".

Japan had announced an investment of Yen 3.5 trillion for India, which included public and private participation in various projects. At present, there are 1455 Japanese companies in India. Eleven Japan Industrial Townships (JIT) have been established, including Neemrana in Rajasthan and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh hosting the greatest number of Japanese companies. Japan is also India's 5th largest source of FDI, besides being the largest development partner.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to announce a plan to invest ($42 billion) in India over five years when he visits the country Nikkei has learned.

Kishida is also poised to agree to an approximately 300-billion-yen loan during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, an energy cooperation document concerning carbon reduction is expected to be signed.

India and Japan had signed a "Digital Partnership" in October 2018. At present, Indian startups have raised more than USD 10 billion from Japanese Venture Capitalists. India and Japan have also launched a private sector driven fund-of-funds to invest in technology startups in India which has raised USD 100 million so far. Both sides also have Cooperation in the field of ICT, in areas such as 5G, under-sea cables, telecom and network security.

Both the countries signed a convergence on free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. They signed a Reciprocal Provision of "Supplies and Services Agreement (RPSS)". Meanwhile, the inaugural 2+2 ministerial meeting was held in November 2019. A decision was also taken in the 2017 Summit to establish the "India-Japan Act East Forum". The objective is to coordinate developmental projects in Northeastern parts of India in areas of connectivity, forest management, disaster risk reduction and capacity building.

The India-Japan summit could not be held in 2020 as well as in 2021 primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Japan is set to hold an in-person summit of Quad leaders this year and Modi is expected to attend it.