Hiroshima: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Saturday held talks focusing on boosting bilateral cooperation in areas of green hydrogen, high technology, semiconductors and digital public infrastructure. In the nearly 50-minute talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Modi and Kishida also deliberated on ways to synergise efforts to combat pressing global challenges under India's G20 presidency and Japan's leadership of the G7 advanced economies.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two prime ministers exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including development finance, food security, climate change and energy among others. "The leaders discussed ways to synergise efforts of their respective G-20 and G-7 presidencies. The prime minister stressed the need to highlight the concerns and priorities of the Global South," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The group of seven, comprising the US, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan, represent the world's richest democracies. Under its G7 presidency, Japan invited India and seven other countries to the summit. In a tweet, Modi described his meeting with Kishida as "excellent"
"We reviewed the full range of India-Japan relations and also discussed the focus areas of India's G-20 Presidency and Japan's G-7 Presidency towards making our planet better," the prime minister said. In a statement, the MEA said the two prime ministers also discussed deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, ways to combat terrorism and the reform of the United Nations.
"The two leaders exchanged views on contemporary regional developments. They also discussed deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific," it said. "The leaders agreed on ways to further strengthen the bilateral Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Discussions focused on areas of education, skill development, tourism, Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), green hydrogen, high technology, semiconductors and digital public infrastructure," it said.