Focus was on bilateral cooperation, not any third-country: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on India-Japan talks

Tokyo [Japan], August 29 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday underlined that discussions between India and Japan during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit were centred on bilateral cooperation and not on issues related to any third country.

Addressing a special MEA press briefing in Tokyo, Misri said, "At this point in time, our discussion with Japan was about our bilateral issues. We were not discussing issues between, either one of us, in any third country. Naturally, what is happening in the rest of the world is discussed. But today's focus remained squarely on our bilateral cooperation."

He was responding to a question on whether US-India trade tensions and India's ties with the US and China figured in the bilateral talks, particularly in the backdrop of the joint declaration on security cooperation signed between India and Japan earlier in the day.

Explaining the significance of the document, Misri said it provides an enabling framework for both countries to respond more effectively to contemporary security challenges. "An important feature of this document is the broad concept of security it embodies, which includes cooperation on cybersecurity, counterterrorism, defence industry, research and development, and closer cooperation on security issues in multilateral groupings. One of the new features of the security engagement between the two countries would be an institutionalised dialogue between the national security advisors of the two countries, " he said.

The MEA official highlighted that the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between the two countries is among the outcomes of the PM's visit to Japan.

The declaration is a comprehensive framework to evolve defence and security cooperation to respond to contemporary security challenges in line with the Special Strategic and Global Partnership of the two countries.

The Foreign Secretary further stressed that the emphasis of PM Modi's two-day official visit remained on strengthening India-Japan ties across security, technology, and economic cooperation.

At the India-Japan Summit that PM Modi held with Ishiba, the two sides released a joint statement as well as the "2035 Vision Statement" for the future of the relationship to upgrade the 2025 Vision Statement announced by PM Modi and then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a decade ago. (ANI)

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