Home > News > The Prime Minister in Action > November 2016 > Japan-India Summit Meeting and Other Events
The Prime Minister in Action
Japan-India Summit Meeting and Other Events
November 11, 2016
Photograph of the leaders shaking hand
Photograph of the Prime Minister welcoming the Prime Minister of India
Photograph of the salute and the guard of honor(1)
Photograph of the salute and the guard of honor (2)
Photograph of the Japan-India Summit Meeting
Photograph of the leaders at the signing ceremony (1)
Photograph of the leaders at the signing ceremony (2)
Photograph of the leaders attending the signing ceremony (1)
Photograph of the leaders attending the signing ceremony (2)
Photograph of the leaders attending the exchange of documents (1)
Photograph of the leaders attending the exchange of documents (2)
Photograph of the leaders attending the exchange of documents (3)
Photograph of the joint press announcement (1)
Photograph of the joint press announcement (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the dinner banquet
Photograph of the dinner banquet hosted by the Prime Minister
[Provisional Translation]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The two leaders attended a salute and ceremony by the guard of honor and then held a summit meeting. After that, the leaders held a signing ceremony, an exchange of documents, and a joint press announcement.
Lastly, Prime Minister Abe hosted a banquet at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and said in his address,
“I am extremely happy to have been able to invite my good friend Prime Minister Modi back to Japan. I offer my heartfelt welcome to you. In our meeting earlier, we had extensive exchanges of views. This evening, I would like you all to relax and enjoy Japanese cuisine to your heart’s content.
One year ago, I visited Varanasi with Prime Minister Modi, where I had the pleasure of seeing a tremendously magical and beautiful ceremony on the bank of the ‘Mother Ganges’ river. Like the flow of the Ganges River, the friendly relationship between Japan and India has progressed ceaselessly through a long-standing history to this very day. For the Japanese people, India has always been a special and widely loved country, ever since it was known to us as ‘Tenjiku’ long ago. Today, Indian culture, as represented by yoga, movies, Indian cooking, and so forth, has been profoundly embraced by a wide section of Japanese society.
I have heard that work is underway toward the release of a remake of the first Indian film ever set in Japan, Love in Tokyo, next year. It is a romantic comedy that visits tourist sites around Japan. I look forward to seeing it. Together with Prime Minister Modi, I hope to make a heartwarming story out of the Japan-India relationship rivaling that film. Then again, Indian films always have dancing, and I’m not a very good dancer. I’ll leave that part to my wife.
Tomorrow Prime Minister Modi and I will go to Kobe. We will visit a factory that produces Shinkansen utilizing Japanese technology. The Shinkansen pushed forward Japan’s period of high-speed economic growth. I expect that they will become flagships for Japan-India economic relations as well and that the term ‘Shinkansen’ will even come to represent economic growth in India in the future. I hope to greatly mature the relationship between our two countries, which holds an extreme amount of possibilities. I want to construct robust bilateral relations befitting the new era for Japan and India.
To tonight’s banquet, we have invited many leaders, including those supporting the invaluable and friendly relationship of our two countries, and former Prime Minister Mori, who started the strategic partnership between Japan and India. It is thanks to all of you that the Japan-India relationship is so wonderful today. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you, and my hope that you will continue to work with us toward the further development of this relationship.
I would now like to raise a toast, for the further strengthening of the Japan-India relationship, and for the further deepening the bonds of friendship between our two countries.”
