Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Japan from August 30 to September 3. During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will hold the Annual Summit meeting with his counterpart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He will also have an audience with the Japanese monarch – Emperor Akihito.
India and Japan are expected to sign a defence cooperation agreement which is in the final stages of negotiations. India is only the fifth country with which Japan will sign such a deal, a departure from its traditional allies – the U.S., Australia, Russia and France.
India and Japan will aim to build on their Strategic and Global Partnership and to finalise the draft for a civil nuclear agreement which has been under negotiations since 2010.
Modi’s visit will also look at reassuring Japanese investors of the new administration’s focus to opening up to foreign direct investment as well as assuaging concerns of removing hurdles to speed up implementation of existing projects.
India-Japan bilateral trade is currently worth $16 billion with a projected potential of $25 biliion.