Japan's PM Fumio Kishida to visit India on March 19 for 14th India-Japan Annual Summit

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to visit India for a two-day trip from March 19 for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart will hold talks on Saturday and discuss the strengthening of bilateral ties in diverse areas and advancing cooperation for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Speaking at a press briefing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed "At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Japan Kishida Fumio will be undertaking an official visit to New Delhi from March 19-20 for the 14th India-Japan annual summit".

India-Japan relations

Bagchi said at a media briefing that India and Japan share multi-faceted cooperation within the ambit of their 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership'. It is learnt that the war situation in Ukraine will likely be the main focus of the Modi-Kishida talks.

"The summit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse areas as well as exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest so as to advance their partnership for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," Bagchi said.

In October 2018, the previous India-Japan annual summit took place in Tokyo. 

Earlier on December 19, the annual summit between PM Modi and his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe did not take place in Guwahati concerning the massive protests in the Assam capital against Citizenship Amendment Bill. Later, due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summit could not be held in 2020 as well as in 2021. 

In a related update, Japan is scheduled to hold an in-person summit of Quad leaders this year and PM Modi is likely to mark his presence.

(With inputs form PTI, Image: AP/PTI)