MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2022) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, held a meeting on the sidelines of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) summit in Tokyo to discuss strengthening bilateral security and defense cooperation, the Indian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
"The two leaders agreed to further enhance bilateral security and defence cooperation, including in the area of defence manufacturing," the ministry said in a statement.
Modi and Kishida agreed that the next meeting of foreign and defense ministers in the 2+2 format should be held in Japan as soon as possible.
The prime ministers welcomed intensifying economic cooperation between the two countries and agreed that both Tokyo and New Delhi should work on the investment plan to attract 5 trillion Yen ($40 billion) from Japan to India over the next five years.
Other topics of shared interest included information and communications technologies.
"They also discussed possibilities of collaboration in critical and emerging technologies such as 5G, Beyond 5G and semiconductors. The two Prime Ministers also agreed to deepen cooperation in the area of Clean Energy including green hydrogen and, in this regard, encouraged more business to business collaboration," the Indian ministry noted.
During the meeting, Modi discussed easing COVID-19 travel restrictions for Indian travelers to Japan, allowing those vaccinated with Covaxin and Covishield to enter Japan without quarantine.
The Quad format of comprehensive partnership was initiated by then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. Following several years of relative lull in activities, the format was revived against the backdrop of rising tensions between its participants and China.
