India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar urged Japanese companies to consider “Make in India” initiatives as well as export from India to global markets, during the Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo.
Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Japan to meet with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Komikawa. He acknowledged that while investments into India from Japan have been robust, bilateral trade has been less robust.
In 2022-23, India-Japan bilateral trade stood at $21.96 billion while foreign direct investment from Japan since April 2000 has reached almost $41 billion.
Japan is the fifth-largest investor in India.
“When I look at the pace of change and the new opportunities today in India, I don’t really see that reflected in the dynamism of our ties,” Jaishankar said of Japan-India relations.
He stated that government-to-government relations have progressed faster than business or people-to-people ties.
On Thursday, Jaishankar also held a joint commission meeting with his Japanese counter-part Yoko Komikawa.
“Today, our meeting allowed us to take stock of various ongoing lines of effort, since the dialogue was held last in July in New Delhi,” Jaishankar said at a joint press briefing with his Japanese counterpart.
“We agreed on the need for new steps… to make this relationship prepared for, and responsive to, the emerging geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological trends, and as well to the growing demands of the people of the two countries to get to know each other better,” he added.
India and Japan also agreed to consider development partnership projects in third countries .
“It will benefit not only our two countries but also other countries in the neighbourhood through a network of forward and backward linkages,” Jaishankar said.
