Tokyo, Aug 25 – India’s Ambassador to Japan, Sibi George, held a series of high-level meetings in Tokyo on Monday, underscoring efforts to deepen the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit later this week.
Ambassador George met Fukushiro Nukaga, Speaker of Japan’s House of Representatives, and discussed avenues to further enhance bilateral ties. The Indian Embassy in Tokyo said the talks focused on strengthening the partnership, including human resource exchanges.
Earlier in the day, George also met Toru Takakura, Group President of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, to explore greater collaboration in the financial sector. “Fruitful discussions were held on furthering India-Japan financial relations,” the Embassy posted on X.
In another engagement, the Ambassador met Rev. Tomohiro Kimura, Vice-Head of Religious Affairs at Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple, to deliberate on initiatives aimed at boosting Buddhist cultural exchanges between the two nations.
The meetings come in the run-up to PM Modi’s visit to Japan on August 29-30 at the invitation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Modi will participate in the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit, his eighth visit to Japan and his first summit with Ishiba.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two leaders will review the partnership across sectors including defence, security, trade, technology, and people-to-people exchanges, while also addressing regional and global issues. The visit is expected to reaffirm the enduring friendship between the two nations.
India-Japan relations have steadily advanced over the past two decades, being elevated to a ‘Global Partnership’ in 2000, ‘Strategic and Global Partnership’ in 2006, and ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ in 2014. Annual summits since 2006 have reinforced ties rooted in strong cultural and civilisational bonds.
