Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Japan-India Summit Meeting

Prime Minister Taro Aso held talks with His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, the leaders exchanged views on a wide range of areas and agreed to promote various efforts to advance the strategic global partnership between Japan and India. Specifically, they agreed on, among others, security cooperation to promote bilateral security cooperation; efforts for the early conclusion of an economic partnership agreement; cooperation for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC) to support India's social infrastructure development; and the promotion of exchanges at the people-to-people and academic levels in broad areas.

Afterwards, the Prime Ministers attended a joint signing ceremony and signed the Joint Statement on the Advancement of the Strategic and Global Partnership between Japan and India and the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India. They also received a proposal for the 2nd Business Leaders' Forum from representatives of both countries' business communities. Furthermore, the leaders attended a signing ceremony by Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Hemant Krishan Singh, Ambassador of India to Japan, for the Memorandum of Understanding on a Yen Loan to India.

In the joint press conference that followed, Prime Minister Aso said, "At today's meeting, we reaffirmed the great potential for Japan-India cooperation. Together with Prime Minister Singh, we will continue to vigorously promote our bilateral cooperation."

Related Link

• Joint Japan-India Leaders' Press Conference
• Visit to Japan of Prime Minister Singh of India (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan)