At the 12th India-Japan Annual Summit held here at Mahatma Mandir, the two countries vowed to increase mutual cooperation in the areas of manufacturing, civil aviation, science & technology, connectivity and skill development.
Officials from the two sides inked 15 agreements on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. The MoUs being strategic in nature, no investment figures were revealed by either side for the agreements.
Addressing a gathering of business community from both the countries, Modi termed it ‘deepening of the ties between the two countries’.
Striking a personal chord by terming the Japanese counterpart as his “personal friend”, Modi said, “We have concluded a number of agreements on very important matters. All this shows the depth of our understanding and the comfort and confidence which we have with each other”.
Abe on the other side, said, “We have just signed a joint statement which will serve as a milestone to open a new era for Japan-India relationship... based on that we will strongly promote Japan-India special strategic and global partnership to drive peace and prosperity for Indo-Pacific region and the whole world”.
An agreement was signed for open skies between India and Japan for unlimited number of flights to select cities of each other’s countries.
Among the MoUs signed included, one on cooperation and collaboration in the field of disaster risk reduction and to share experiences, knowledge and policies on disaster prevention.
MoUs were also signed on skill development aimed at cooperation in the field of Japanese language education, initiative to enhance connectivity and developmental projects in the North-Eastern Region of India. The India-Japan Investment Promotion Road map between DIPP and METI was signed to facilitate and accelerate the Japanese investments in India, while an MoU between METI and Gujarat government was signed for ‘Japan-India special programme for Make In India’ in Mandal Bechraji-Khoraj region of the State.
In Science & Technology, MoU aimed at establishing a Joint Exchange Program to foster young scientists from both countries on various areas.