India-Japan Summit Joint Statement Partnership for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Post-COVID World

Prime Minister of Japan H.E. Mr. Kishida Fumio made an official visit to India, as his first bilateral visit, from 19 to 20 March 2022 for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit with H.E. Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. The Prime Ministers recognized that the Summit was taking place at a significant time as the two countries were celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations and India was celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence. They reviewed the developments since the last Annual Summit and discussed wide ranging areas of cooperation.

1. Reaffirming the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, the Prime Ministers concurred that the shared values and principles enunciated in the India-Japan Vision Statement issued in 2018 are particularly relevant in the present context, where global cooperation is required more than ever to address challenges that have become more acute. They highlighted their commitment to working in tandem towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world, based on a rules-based order that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, and emphasized the need for all countries to seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law without resorting to threat or use of force or any attempt to unilaterally change status quo. In this regard, they reaffirmed their common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, free from coercion. They shared the view that the economies of both countries in such a world would be powered by robust bilateral investment and trade flows through diversified, resilient, transparent, open, secure and predictable global supply chains that provide for economic security and prosperity of their peoples. Reaffirming that the two countries would continue to work together to realize these shared objectives, they resolved to further advance the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

Partnership for A Free and Open Indo-Pacific underpinned by Inclusiveness and Rules-based order

2. The Prime Ministers appreciated the significant progress made in security and defence cooperation and reaffirmed their desire to further deepen it. They welcomed the holding of the first 2+2 meeting of their Foreign and Defence Ministers in November 2019 in New Delhi and instructed their Ministers to hold the second meeting at the earliest opportunity in Tokyo. They also welcomed the operationalization of the Agreement Concerning Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Indian Armed Forces. 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. They acknowledged ongoing collaboration in the area of Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and Robotics and directed their Ministers to further identify concrete areas for future cooperation in the area of defence equipment and technology.