Australia and Japan announce investments in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held a virtual summit on Monday, March 21. The two leaders committed closer bilateral ties in trade, critical minerals, migration and mobility, and education.

Australian PM Scott Morrison has announced investment of Rs 1500 crore in India in several sectors like technology, critical minerals, etc on Monday. The India-Australia summit follows the historic first virtual summit of June 4, 2020 when the relationship between the two nations was elevated to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. As the summit is taking place in the midst of the crisis in Ukraine, it is expected to figure in the talks between the two world leaders.

Unlike its Quad partners like the US, Japan, and Australia, India has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has maintained that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Australia said the Quad member countries have accepted India’s position on the Russian attack on Ukraine, adding that no country would be unhappy as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been using his contacts to call for an end to the conflict.

“The Quad countries have accepted India’s position. We understand that each country has bilateral relationship and it is clear from the comments of the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and Prime Minister Modi himself that he has used his contacts to call for the end of the conflict and no country will be unhappy with that,” Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell was quoted as saying by PTI. Japan aims to invest $42 billion over the next five years in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Delhi this evening.

“Japan will raise its investment target in India to an ambitious 5 trillion yen or Rs 3.2 lakh crore ($42 billion) over the next five years,” announced PM Modi. Mr Kishida, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in Delhi for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit at around 3:40 pm on his first visit to India as the head of the Japanese government.

The two sides inked six agreements providing for the expansion of bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, besides firming a separate clean energy partnership. At a joint briefing, PM Modi said deepening India-Japan ties will not only benefit the two countries but will also help in encouraging peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014 announced 3.5 trillion yen in investment and financing over five years during a visit to India. Japan has been supporting India’s urban infrastructure development and a high-speed railway based on its bullet train technology.

The two leaders met at the Hyderabad House in the national capital and discussed ways to boost economic and cultural linkages between the two countries as per the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Modi had spoken to PM Kishida on phone in October 2021 soon after he assumed office. Both sides expressed a desire to further strengthen the special strategic and global partnership. Modi and PM Kishida held bilateral talks on Saturday, following which PM Modi announced that Japan will invest Rs 3.2 lakh crores in India over the next five years.

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