On Thursday, Yoshimasa and his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishhankar, held the fifteenth bilateral strategic dialogue between foreign ministers, with the delegations from the two countries agreeing to promote projects related to semiconductors, resilient supply chains and digital public infrastructure.

The ministers reviewed ways to deepen cooperation in defense, mainly in technology and equipment, expressed interest in reinforcing cooperation by conducting regular exercises and talks between personnel from different spheres of the defense and security sector, and emphasized the importance of achieving the target Japanese investment in India worth 5 trillion yen (roughly 36 billion dollars) planned for the 2022-2027 period.

They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of concern and considered a strong and lasting partnership crucial to ensure a free, open, prosperous, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region, according to an official statement.

The ministers also discussed their respective presidencies of the Group of 20 and the Group of Seven, reforms of the United Nations Security Council and cooperation under multilateral and plurilateral frameworks, including the Quad, the grouping they form together with Australia and the United States.

They also highlighted the need to foster tourism, evaluated ways to promote the movement of qualified professionals from India to Japan, and recalled the appointment of 2023 as the Year of India-Japan Tourism Exchanges, with the theme “Connecting the Himalayas with Mount Fuji”.

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