SHINZO ABE VOWS TO BE INDIA’S FRIEND FOR LIFE
Vowing to be‘ friend of India for life ', Abe says the nation is driving the world’ s prosperity as a global power
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday said he would be a “friend of India for life” as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi began two days of summit talks to further deepen the Japan-India strategic partnership. The two-day summit, beginning Sunday, will seek to review the progress in ties and deepen strategic dimension of the bilateral relationship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Sunday rode an express train to travel to Tokyo after spending eight hours together in the scenic Yamanashi prefecture where they held informal talks and visited a factory of industrial manufacturer.
Modi, who arrived in Japan on Saturday evening to attend the 13th India-Japan annual summit, was accorded a warm welcome. The two leaders “would be holding talks through the day on deepening India-Japan ties”, Prime Minister Modi’s office said.
They will hold a formal summit on Monday in Tokyo, during which strengthening bilateral security and economic cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda. The two leaders are expected to deliberate on issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. India is also hoping to have some kind of synergy or integration between Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is the largest medicare programme of its kind globally, and the Japanese programme, which is called Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative.
In a message on the day of the summit meet, Abe said India was driving the region and the world’s prosperity as a global power. Modi was affectionately received by Abe on his arrival at the Hotel Mount Fuji in Yamanashi prefecture, west of Tokyo. Later in the evening, Abe in a special gesture hosted Modi at his personal villa near Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi for a private dinner. It was the first time Abe had invited a foreign political leader to his holiday home in the village of Narusawa in the prefecture.
In a message, Abe said when he visited Ahmedabad in September last year, the Japanese premier said he received an “overwhelmingly warm welcome” by the people of India.
"Immersed in the strong impression and thinking of my grandfather's visit to India, I swore that I would remain a friend of India for life,” said the 64year-old leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.