India-Japan Cooperation on Counter-Terrorism Top Priority: Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Friday hailed India and Japan as the most natural and strategic partners in Asia, reaffirming the longstanding partnership between the two countries.  Citing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s book “The India Way,” Hayashi emphasised the importance of close coordination with India for fostering peace and stability in the region.

“Allow me to cite Mr. Jaishankar’s book, The India Way, in which he describes the India-Japan relations as the most natural and strategic equation in Asia. I perfectly share his view. And We believe close coordination with India is key to bringing peace and stability in the region,” Hayashi said at the India-Japan Forum 2023 here in the national capital.

While delivering his address, the Japanese minister underlined that this year is key for both nations as India holds the chairship of G20 while Japan has the presidency of G7. Emphasising the importance of coordination with India as it holds the G20 Presidency, the minister said that Japan supports New Delhi’s various initiatives under the forum.

Citing India’s global millet initiative, Hayashi said Japan commends India’s leadership in advancing efforts that pertain to building resilient and sustainable agriculture. Japan is very much eager to work hand-in-hand with India, toward the success of the G20 New Delhi summit, he added.

At a time when there were many pressing challenges, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the minister said Japan and India fully share the necessity to lead the world to cooperation rather than division and confrontation. He said Japan considers India as an indispensable partner in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Following his address, during a Q&A session, Hayashi also touched upon the issue of terrorism. Siting alongside Jaishankar, he said cooperation between like-minded countries like India and Japan to counter-terrorism is a top priority issue. “Everyone should be very strict on activities such as terrorism. Cooperation between like-minded countries like us (India and Japan ) to counter-terrorism is a top priority issue,” he said.

On Thursday, India and Japan held discussions on joint collaboration in critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors. Jaishankar stated that talks covered a host of issues including, political, defence, economic, critical technology and people-to-people domains.

Reviewing their Special Strategic and Global Partnership, the talks took place in New Delhi as part of the 15th India-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, where “comprehensive discussions” covered a wide range of issues.

Jaishankar and his visiting counterpart from Japan emphasised the crucial role of a strong and enduring partnership in ensuring a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The two sides also highlighted the importance of achieving the target of five trillion Yen Japanese investment in India in the period 2022-27, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Hayashi is on a two-day visit to India, his second such trip in the last five months.