‘Right Moment to Add New Content and Agenda to India-Japan Partnership’: Jaishankar – News18

As India and Japan celebrate the 10th anniversary of upgrading their ties to a “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has advocated for enhancing defence and security cooperation between the two nations.

He proposed this idea during his three-day visit to Japan. “I think it would be a right moment to add new content and new agenda to our partnership to make it contemporary,” Jaishankar said in a written interview, which was followed by an in-person interview with Japanese publications on Friday. Sharing concerns about Chinese border aggression, Jaishankar said, “India believes in the observance of international law and respect for agreements concluded between nations.”

He asserted that “peace and tranquility in India’s border areas with China have been disturbed because Beijing has not observed relevant agreements. “Our endeavor is to resolve the resulting situation through direct discussions, which are in fact underway,” the minister said. He explained that bilateral efforts, including several meetings of military commanders, have been made since the two countries’ militaries clashed on the border in 2020. The minister said there has been “some progress, and some significant progress, but [there are] still some issues to be done.”

During his visit, Jaishankar called on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s greetings to him.  An official statement on Saturday said that the External Affairs Minister’s visit to Japan provided a timely opportunity to take stock of the ongoing bilateral cooperation and explore ways to qualitatively transform the special strategic partnership. During his trip, minister Jaishnkar also briefed PM Kishida about recent developments in the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership and sought his guidance to further strengthen the relationship.

On March 7, Jaishankar held the 16th India-Japan Strategic Dialogue with his counterpart Yoko Kamikawa, reviewing the broad canvas of India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, including political exchanges; trade, investment, infrastructure and technology collaboration; developmental coordination; defence and security cooperation; as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The two Ministers agreed to make the relationship responsive to contemporary demands and foster better understanding between our two peoples.

Their discussion touched on topics like cooperation for building respective semiconductor ecosystems, green technologies, defence equipment and technology, digital payments, mobility arrangements, and the promotion of the Japanese language in India. The dialogue also covered regional issues of mutual interest in the Indo-Pacific and major global developments. “EAM’s visit to Japan provided a timely opportunity to take stock of the ongoing bilateral cooperation and explore ways to qualitatively transform the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries, in its 10th year,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Jaishankar also met with senior political leaders, including Taro Aso, Vice President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP); Toshimitsu Motegi, Secretary General of LDP; and Yoshihide Suga, Chairman of Japan India Association. Strong sentiment of support for bilateral partnership was clearly evidenced in these meetings, the statement said. During the visit, he also met Akie Abe, the wife of Japan’s late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and handed over a letter from Prime Minister Modi conveying his condolence over the demise of Madam Yoko Abe, mother of late premier, the statement said.