Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in New Delhi on Monday. In the backdrop of India leading the G20 summit, the visit gains significance as Japan is set to hold the G7 summit next month.
Kishida was received by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar at Delhi airport. He will meet the Prime Minister and will deliver the speech on Japan's Indo-Pacific strategy. Also, ways to boost bilateral ties in various range of areas including defence, security, technology, trade and investment will be discussed.
Priorities for India's presidency of G20 and Japan's presidency of the G7 will dominate the discussions.
The Japanese PM Kishida is expected to unveil his plan for a "free and open Indo-Pacific" with a focus on India's increasingly significant role for the region during the visit.
In the backdrop of China's rising military assertiveness, the evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific is also likely to be in talks between Modi and Kishida.
He is also expected to unveil his 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific Plan for Peace' during a lecture at a leading think-tank in the afternoon. The plan is expected to highlight India's significance for the Indo-Pacific.
While speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June last year, Kishida said that he would lay out the plan for Indo-Pacific next spring.
"I will lay out a 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific Plan for Peace' by next spring which will strengthen Japan's efforts to further promote the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, with an emphasis on providing patrol vessels and enhancing maritime law enforcement capabilities, as well as cyber security, digital and green initiatives, and economic security," Kishida was quoted by PTI.
The plan is expected to provide details of Japan's policy and approach towards the Indo-Pacific.
Japan has been pushing for a free and open Indo-Pacific with a view to maintaining and strengthening the rules-based international order in the region.
(With PTI inputs)
