India and Japan are “natural partners” and Japanese investments have played an important role in India’s development journey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday as he underlined that the global community is witnessing an extraordinary scale and speed of infrastructure and capacity development in the country.
Addressing the Indian community here on the first day of his two-day visit to Tokyo, Modi also said that India’s relationship with Japan is one of strength, respect and common resolve for the world.
“India and Japan are natural partners. Japan has played an important role in India’s development journey,” said Modi, who is visiting Tokyo at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Modi and Kishida will be holding bilateral talks here on Tuesday.
Modi said that Japan is an important partner in building infrastructure and manufacturing capacity in India. He cited Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, dedicated freight corridors- as examples of India-Japan cooperation.
He said India’s relationship with Japan is that of Buddha, of knowledge, of meditation.
“Today’s world needs to follow the path shown by Gautam Buddha. This is the only way to save humanity from the challenges like violence, anarchy, terrorism and climate change,” Modi said in his over 35-minute-long speech.
Modi said that in the last two years, the way global chain supply was disrupted, the entire supply chain was questionable.
“To avert such a situation in future, we are moving ahead with the resolution of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Our resolution of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is not only for India, this is also a very big investment for stable and sustained global chain supply,” Modi said.
Noting that India has always found a solution no matter how big the problem is, Modi said that during coronavirus pandemic, there was an atmosphere of uncertainty, but even in that situation, India supplied ‘Made in India’ vaccines to crores of its citizens and also sent it to more than 100 countries.
“We are working towards strengthening the healthcare infrastructure in India,” Modi said, adding that wellness centres are being developed to take healthcare to all corners of the country.
He said India is moving forward to fight the global challenge of Climate Change. “We have committed to become ‘net zero’ by 2070,” he said.
“India is leading the climate change negotiations. From declaring the target of becoming Net-Zero till 2070 to initiating the International Solar Alliance, India is serious about working on a ‘green future’,” he added.
He said India has set the target of fulfilling 50% of its energy needs through non-fossil capacity by 2030.
Proposes ‘Japan Week’ to celebrate Japanese contribution to India’s growth
Seeking greater investments in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday proposed celebrating Japan’s contribution to the country’s development journey in the form of a ‘Japan Week’.
Modi chaired a roundtable with Japanese business leaders here in which top executives and CEOs of 34 Japanese companies participated. The majority of these companies have investments and operations in India. The companies represented diverse sectors, including automobiles, electronics, semiconductors, steel, technology, trading and banking and finance, an official statement said.
“Met top business CEOs and highlighted the numerous investment opportunities in India,” the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Stressing that India and Japan are natural partners, the Prime Minister lauded the business community as brand ambassadors of the immense potential of India-Japan ties.
The Prime Minister recalled that during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida to India in March 2022, both countries had set an ambitious target of investment of Japanese Yen 5 trillion over the next five years. He highlighted recent developments in economic ties, such as India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP) and Clean Energy Partnership, among others.
He talked about initiatives such National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, and semiconductor policy and highlighted the robust startup ecosystem of India.