India-Japan ties reach unprecedented heights

India and Japan broke all records today with an extraordinary interaction between their two establishments consisting of four dialogues across the economic and political spectrum, for which as many as seven Japanese ministers had flown in from Tokyo to meet their Indian counterparts.

Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna launched their first bilateral economic dialogue this morning—which is believed to have caused Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma serious heartburn— that not only took stock of the gamut of the India-Japan relationship, but also is intended to integrate the variously active strands in the relationship.

This economic dialogue was attended by all seven visiting Japanese ministers, besides Gemba, the all-powerful Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Yukio Edano, Minister for Financial Services Shozaburo Jimi, Senior Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs Kimiaki Matsuzaki, Senior Vice-Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ken Okuda, Senior Vice-Minister for Finance Fumihiko Igarashi and Parliamentary Secretary Satoshi Takayama.

On the Indian side, the delegation was led by Krishna, flanked by Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia, MoS for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning Ashwani Kumar, MoS for Railways Muniayappa, MOS in the Ministry of External Affairs E Ahamed, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, chairman of railways board, secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion and other senior officials.