Japan to cooperate with India on multiple fronts including 'Quad': new Japan PM Suga

Tokyo: – New Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide made a statement that Japan is keen on strengthening the cooperation with India through the medium of multi-level agencies like QUAD and the United Nations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured to increase Indian partnership with Japan on various levels in the Indo-Pacific sector. These discussions between the Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers become essential because of the increasing Chinese activities and the tensions mounting because of them.

The Japanese foreign department informed that Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide had a telephonic conversation, for about 25 minutes, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. At this time, Prime Minister Yoshihide made a special mention of the India-Japan relations that developed during the tenure of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide said, ‘Japan wants to increase cooperation with India in the defence and economic sectors. Japan is willing to strengthen the partnership in the Indo-Pacific sector, and for this, Japan is keen to play its part in the quadrant formed with India, the United States and Australia. The India-Japan relations can also be strengthened through the medium of a multi-level agency like the United Nations.’

The Indian Prime Minister extended an invitation to the Japanese Prime Minister to visit India for a bilateral meeting. The Indian Prime Minister claimed that the importance of the India-Japan cooperation has become increased further against the background of the Coronavirus pandemic and the challenges posed following the epidemic. India informed that discussions regarding the high-speed railway and skilled labour agreements were also held during the telephonic conversation.

The Chinese activities in the Indo-Pacific regions have increased to a great extent since the last few months. The United States is building a front with countries from this region to counter these Chinese activities. QUAD is a part of the same preparations, and the United States and Japan are trying to get India to play an active role in QUAD. The mention of QUAD by the Japanese Prime Minister, during the telephonic discussion with the Indian Prime Minister, is a part of the same efforts.