Japanese PM arrives in India to hold summit talks with Modi

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived here on a short visit.

The visiting leader is scheduled to hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 5 pm.

The Japanese prime minister arrived in New Delhi at around 3:40 pm and is scheduled to depart at 8 am on Sunday.

The previous India-Japan annual summit took place in Tokyo in October 2018.

Besides key bilateral issues, the situation in Ukraine is also likely to figure in the Modi-Kishida talks.

"The summit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse areas as well as exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest so as to advance their partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

The annual summit between Prime Minister Modi and his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe was cancelled in December 2019 in Guwahati in the wake of massive protests rocking the Assam capital over the amended citizenship law.

The summit could not be held in 2020 as well as in 2021 primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.