Ambassador’s messaGe
The Government and the people of Japan sincerely welcome the most awaited guest of the year, the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. It was a pleasure for us to have his presence in our country from 10th to 12th November 2016.
Based on the complementarities pertaining between the two Asian economies with common values and shared strategic interests, it can be objectified that the India-Japan collaboration has immense proficiency for development and growth.
During the visit of Prime Minister Abe to India last year, the two Prime Ministers achieved numerous outcomes such as civil nuclear cooperation, High Speed Rail, defence cooperation. They signed a joint statement “Japan and India Vision 2025: Special Strategic and Global Partnership-Working Together for Peace and Prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region and the World”, which would serve as a guidepost for the “new era in Japan- India relations” in the coming years. Since then, Japan and India have been working closely to materialise a bilateral cooperation through following up and implementing what they agreed upon. The visit of Prime Minister Modi to Japan this time is a truly opportune moment to show the progress the two countries achieved since the last year so that we could build stronger and more prosperous bilateral relations based upon that. This renewed and enhanced partnership can play a greater role on the regional and global issues. At the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African De- velopment held in Kenya in August this year, Prime Minister Abe launched the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”. This strategy envisions a broad region which encompasses two oceans, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, to include not only Asia, but also Africa. This primarily aims to improve connectivity and maritime security through a free and open Indo-Pacific to promote the stability and prosperity of the region as a whole. The partnership between the largest and oldest democracies in this region can contribute tremendously to a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
In addition, I would like to underscore the importance of deepening mutual understanding through people-topeople exchanges between our two countries. Although India and Japan have a long history of friendship which has been growing steadily, there is always a scope for improvement and expansion. The two Prime Min- isters are keen to enhance people-to-people exchanges, and I would like to make the utmost effort for that purpose through promoting tourism and culture. Japan is a beautiful country with warm-hearted people, cutting- edge technology, the richness of culture and 20 World Heritage sites.
Aside from them, Washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine, became the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 ranked Japan ninth out of 141 countries overall, which was the best in Asia. We look forward to welcoming many Indian people to Japan in the years to come.
With the endeavours of the two countries, we will be able to further strengthen our partnership both in bilateral and global contexts. We are confident that the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Japan will solidify the partnership for a prosperous future.