Modi meets Abe, discusses Indo-Pacific situation, other bilateral issues

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held delegation-level talks Monday during which the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral, regional and global issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The formal summit comes a day after the two prime ministers spent about eight hours together at a picturesque resort near Mount Fuji in Yamanashi prefecture discussing ties between the two countries and ways to deepen strategic dimension of the bilateral relationship.

Modi, who arrived in Japan Saturday to attend the 13th India-Japan annual summit, was given a guard of honour upon his arrival for the annual summit talks at the Kantei, the Prime Minister's Official Residence.

Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi described India and Japan as a "winning combination" and said the island nation was New Delhi's most trusted partner in its economic and technological modernisation.

It is Modi's 12th meeting with Abe since he first visited Japan as prime minister in September 2014.

During the formal summit, Modi is likely to engage with Abe on a range of issues including defence and regional security.

Besides bilateral issues, the two leaders are expected to deliberate on a range of regional and global issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is flexing its muscles.

It is said the prime minister's visit will reaffirm the traditional bonds of friendship between the two countries and strengthen their multi-faceted cooperation in diverse fields.

India is also hoping to have some kind of synergy or integration between Modi's Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is the largest medicare programme of its kind globally, and the Japanese programme which is called Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative.

Prime Minister Modi has said projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail and Dedicated Freight Corridors reflected the high level and "strength of our economic engagement".