India invited for G7 Summit in Japan

India has been invited to the G7 Summit in Japan, along with Australia, the Cook Islands, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and others.

“India has been invited along with Australia, Cook Islands, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and others for the G7 Summit in Japan. India has huge potential and demand in terms of infrastructure development,” Japanese officials said on Monday. The Japanese officials said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed Sri Lanka debt issues and agreed to coordinate on it.”

On being asked if the USD 75 billion pledged by Japan PM Kishida in Delhi is to counter China, the Japanese officials said that: “No..it is a demonstration for free and open Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister has emphasized repeatedly that they have no country in check or vision to counter any country.”

As per the officials, both nations believe in active defence exchanges. “India-Japan did joint exercises. Progress has been made in the defence security arena,” the officials said.

On a visit to India on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised over USD 75 billion in development and security support for the Indo-Pacific.

According to Asia Nikkie, Kishida made the vow in a speech at an event hosted by the Indian Council of Global Affairs think tank, following a one-on-one meeting with Modi in which he invited the Indian leader to the Group of Seven summits in Hiroshima in May.

PM Modi and his Japanese colleague Kishida met on Monday to discuss defence equipment and technological collaboration, commerce, health, and digital partnership, as well as the necessity of trustworthy supply chains in semiconductors and other important technologies.

During Kishida’s visit to New Delhi, the two leaders had “excellent talks,” with PM Modi remarking that improving bilateral ties is not only crucial for both our nations, but also fosters peace, prosperity, and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

He stated that the two nations established a target of 5 trillion yen (Rs 3,20,000 crore) in Japanese investment in India over the next five years last year, and he is pleased that there has been strong progress in this direction.

PM Kishida’s visit is significant since India is the G20 chair and Japan is the G7 chair.

Following talks between the two leaders, there was an exchange of notes between the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan of tranche-IV JICA ODA Loan of JPY 300 billion for Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR).