India accords high priority to strategic partnership with Japan: Narendra Modi

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India accords high priority to strategic partnership with Japan: Narendra Modi
Modi says ‘an economically vibrant and strong India is in the interest of the entire Asian continent

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India attaches a great deal of importance to the strategic and global partnership with Japan as he received a Japanese parliamentary delegation at his residence, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

Modi said that a “fundamental identity of values, interests and priorities exists between India and Japan” and that apart from economic ties, the two countries also share strong cultural linkages.

Ichiro Aisawa who led the Japanese delegation said the Japanese business community in India has great expectations from Modi's government. He added that the people of India also hoped that the new government will take the Indian economy to new heights, the statement said.

Modi responded by saying that his government had been elected “with a mandate to make India strong and prosperous, and the government would do its best to fulfil that mandate.” Modi added that “an economically vibrant and strong India was in the interest of the entire Asian continent.”

Japan was one of the few countries that Modi visited during his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat during 2001-14. Modi, who had planned to visit Japan in the first week of July, has put off his visit for later. News reports said Modi wanted to be in Delhi during Parliament’s crucial budget session starting 7 July. The Union Budget is to be presented on 10 July.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was among the world leaders who congratulated Modi on his election as India’s prime minister following the April-May polls. “@narendramodi Great talking to you, Mr. Modi. I look forward to welcoming you in Tokyo and further deepening our friendly ties,” Abe said in a post on micro-blogging website Twitter on 20 May. Modi is one of the three people that Abe follows on Twitter, the other two being his wife and a Japanese industrialist.

India accords high priority to strategic partnership with Japan: Narendra Modi - Livemint