Japan announces Rs 3.2 lakh crore investment target in India in next 5 years

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) In a big-ticket move, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday announced an investment target of five trillion yen (Rs 3,20,000 crore) in India over the next five years as the two sides concluded a raft of agreements and collaborations to further expand their special strategic and global partnership.

Following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kishida at the 14th India-Japan summit, the two sides inked six agreements including one that will facilitate Rs 20,400 crore loan by Japan International Cooperation Agency for development projects in India.

In their talks, the two prime ministers deliberated on pressing global issues including the Ukraine crisis, the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar and developments in the South China Sea as well as the Indo-Pacific, particularly the growing Chinese assertiveness and economic coercion.

A joint statement said Modi and Kishida highlighted their commitment to working in tandem towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world based on a rules-based order that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.

The two leaders emphasised the need for all countries to seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law without resorting to threat or use of force or any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo.

"The prime ministers expressed their serious concern about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications, particularly to the Indo-Pacific region," the joint statement said.

In his comments, Kishida said the situation in Ukraine figured in the talks and described the Russian attack on that country as a serious development that has shaken the roots of international order.

"We discussed the situation in Ukraine. The Russian attack on Ukraine is a very serious matter that has shaken the basis of the international system. We need to approach the matter with a strong resolve," Kishida said.

"I told Modi that one-sided efforts to change status quo by force can't be allowed in any sector. We both agreed on the need for a peaceful solution to all conflicts on basis of international law," he added.

After the talks, the two sides firmed up a clean energy partnership (CEP) for cooperation in areas such as electric vehicles, storage systems including batteries, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and development of solar energy.

A sustainable development initiative for the North Eastern Region was also firmed up under which Japan will assist in projects in areas of connectivity, healthcare, new and renewable energy, as well as an initiative to strengthening "bamboo value chain".

The two sides also resolved to continue expanding cooperation in defence and security including in the field of cybersecurity.

Referring to bilateral trade ties, Kishida said Japan has an investment target of five trillion yen (Rs 3,20,000 crore) in India over the next five years.

"We have announced that in the next five years, we will invest five trillion yen in India and we will further strengthen our cooperation," Kishida said.

The joint statement said Modi and Kishida expressed satisfaction that the investment target of 3.5 trillion yen announced in 2014 has been achieved.

"Economic ties between India and Japan are getting more robust. Japan is among the top investors in India. Based on the trend of the last few years, we are aiming to reach an investment target of 5 trillion yen in the coming 5 years. This will bring great economic opportunities," Modi tweeted.

The two sides also expressed deep concern at the growing threat of terrorism and underlined the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

"They called upon all countries to work together for rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halting cross-border movement of terrorists," the joint statement said.

"In this context, they also called upon all countries to ensure that territory under their control is not used to launch terror attacks, to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks," it said.

The two leaders reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks, and called upon Pakistan to take resolute and irreversible action against terrorist networks operating out of its territory and comply fully with international commitments including to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

In their talks, the prime ministers reaffirmed their intention to collaborate closely to realise peace and stability in Afghanistan and stressed the importance of addressing humanitarian crisis, promoting human rights and ensuring the establishment of a truly representative and inclusive political system.

They also reaffirmed the importance of the UN Security Council resolution that unequivocally demanded that Afghan territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts and called for concerted action against all terrorist groups.

The two prime ministers also resolved to continue to work closely together for early reform of the UN Security Council to reflect the contemporary realities of the 21st century.

They expressed their determination to accelerate its process, including through the commencement of text-based negotiations in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) with an overall objective to achieve concrete outcomes in a fixed timeframe. PTI MPB SMN SMN