TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering visiting India early in July to meet her counterpart Narendra Modi to discuss cooperation on strengthening supply chains of critical goods, given concerns about China’s economic coercion, government sources said on June 4.
Takaichi aims to deepen bilateral collaboration in a wide range of fields covering defence, economic issues and cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, according to the sources.
India’s high-speed railway project to link the western cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad using Japanese bullet train technology is also expected to be brought up at the envisaged summit, the sources said.
Japan regards India as an important partner to advance a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, where China has been expanding its military activities. The initiative was first put forward in 2016 by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s political mentor.
Her trip would be part of the two nations’ practice of reciprocal visits by their leaders.
The visit would come as Japan-China ties remain soured after Takaichi infuriated Beijing with her parliamentary remarks in November suggesting that Japan could deploy its defence forces to support the US if Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, came under attack by the mainland.
India has a long-time territorial dispute with China in a Himalayan border area, but recently moved towards repairing its relationship with Beijing against the backdrop of their strong economic ties and US President Donald Trump’s high-tariff policies.
An early de-escalation of the Middle East situation following the US-Israeli war with Iran since late February and the four-way Quad cooperative framework involving Japan, India, the US and Australia are among other likely agenda items for Takaichi and Modi, the sources added. KYODO NEWS
AloJapan.com