Japan to give ₹3.2 lakh-crore push to economic ties
Hindustan TimesJapan on Saturday announced it will invest five trillion yen in India over five years to finance public and private projects, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida emphasising the importance of economic ties in the bilateral strategic partnership. The planned investment was announced by Kishida at the conclusion of the first annual India-Japan Summit in more than three years, and the two sides also finalised seven loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency worth ₹20,400 crore for projects in connectivity, water supply, sewerage, health care, and biodiversity conservation. Shared concerns about China’s aggressive actions have given a boost to the India-Japan strategic partnership in recent years, with increased focus on creating resilient supply chains and strengthening economic cooperation. Modi described Kishida, who is on his first bilateral foreign visit since becoming the premier last October, as an “old friend of India”, and the Japanese leader said the two countries, bound by shared values such as democracy and rule of law, need to cooperate closely both bilaterally and at forums such as the Quad for a free and open Indo-Pacific.