India, Japan are on same page on Ukraine, says Japanese official

INTERNATIONA: DESK: As the war between Russia and Ukraine intensified further in the fourth week, Hikariko Ono, Japan’s Press Secretary on Saturday said that India and Japan are on the same page on Ukraine and stressed for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

She added that any attempt to change the status quo cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world be it Russia or China. She emphasized that the meeting between the two leaders lasted for 110 minutes with the Japanese PM underscoring Russian aggression as a clear violation of international law.

“India and Japan are on the same page. PM Kishida and PM Modi agreed to jointly cooperate with Ukraine. Any attempt to change the status quo cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world.

Apprising the media about the outcome of Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida’s official visit to India and his first bilateral visit for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, she said that both leaders had an intense discussion on peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Both leaders discussed regional issues including China and Ukraine, however, Ukraine’s situation had the lion’s share in the talks. “Lengthy and intense discussion took place on Ukraine,” said Hikariko, adding, “PM Kishida said Russian aggression is a clear violation of international law, the international community should take definitive action against Russia regarding oil sanctions.”

The summit meeting started around 5 o’clock and lasted till 6:56 pm. “They had a very long summit meeting of 110 minutes,” said Hikariko.

However, the two leaders agreed to seek a peaceful resolution of conflict. “Japanese PM Kishida also asked PM Modi to cooperate further including working precisely with Russian President Vladimir Putin for oil orders amid rising energy prices,” said Hikariko.

“We need to seek peaceful resolution of conflict, the two countries (Russia and Ukraine) will tackle the situation and break the deadlock,” she added.

Hikariko also said that the two leaders discussed nuclear disarmament amid reports of the attack on Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Zaporozhskaya and Chernobyl by Russia.

“The two leaders discussed nuclear disarmament as Kishida from Hiroshima which was hit by the nuclear bomb. They also agreed to promote people to people exchange, tourism, sports,” said Hikariko.

Regarding China, both leaders discussed the realisation of the Indo-Pacific and the issues both countries are facing. “Both leaders agreed to strongly oppose any attempt to disturb status quo by force. Regarding political and security cooperation, India and Japan agreed to hold 2+ 2 meetings, implement Malabar Exercise among Quad member states. They also agreed on a memorandum of cyber security cooperation” said Japan Press Secy.

They expressed their commitment to continuing bilateral and multilateral exercises including “Dharma Guardian” and “Malabar” respectively, while welcoming the participation of Japan for the first time in exercise MILAN, as well as making efforts to increase their complexity in the future. They reaffirmed the decision to proceed with coordination for the inaugural fighter exercise between the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the Indian Air Force and welcomed the efforts to hold the exercise at the earliest.

She also informed about the economic cooperation between the two countries.

The two leaders mentioned and welcomed Japan’s automaker Suzuki investment in India. Japan will be raising the investment target in India to Rs 3.2 lakh crore or 5 trillion yen over the next five years. India and Japan inked six agreements following bilateral talks between PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Kishida. PM Kishida asked for a further better environment for business. Japan is ready to cooperate with India’s high-quality infrastructure.

“The two leaders also agreed on India North-East region sustainable development and people to people contact through tourism and sports. They also promoted space cooperation.

“We are pleased with steady progress on the high-speed train project. Japan is ready to cooperate on the implementation of this project,” she added.

The Japanese Press Secretary also said that the visit of Kishida to India successfully solidified the base and partnership with PM Modi.

“This visit successfully solidified the base and partnership between the two leaders (PM Modi & Japanese PM). Grateful for warm hospitality by people and Government of India despite COVID-19 challenges,” said Hikariko.

She further said that Japan and India share fundamental values such as democracy, freedom and rule of law. The two countries are strategic and global partners. (ANI)