Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida today visited the Bal Bodhi Tree at Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi. The two leaders spoke as they walked in the park after praying and showering flowers at the Bal Bodhi Tree.

PM Fumio Kishida, who arrived in New Delhi early this morning for a two-day visit, held a meeting with PM Modi at the Hyderabad House. Kishida invited PM Modi for the G7 leaders meeting scheduled to be held in Hiroshima in May this year.

After the meeting, PM Modi in a joint statement said, “Today Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida invited me to the G7 Leaders’ Summit which will be held in Hiroshima in May. I thank him for this.

“I welcome Japanese PM Fumio Kishida to India. In the last one year, PM Fumio Kishida and I have met several times and every time I’ve felt his positivity and commitment to the India-Japan bilateral relationship. His today’s visit will be beneficial to maintain this momentum,” he added.

PM Modi called today’s meeting a “great opportunity” to work together keeping the goals of both nations in mind. PM Modi said he is happy to be able to welcome his Japanese counterpart again in September this year for the G20 Summit. PM Modi said that he spoke to Kishida regarding India’s G20 goals and priorities.

In his statement after the talks, PM Modi said this meeting aims to give a voice to the global South and strengthen the India-Japan relationship. He said, “I have spoken to him regarding India’s G20 priorities in detail. Our main priority is to give voice to the needs of the global south.” He said that the culture that believes in “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” believes in taking everyone along.

In a joint statement after meeting PM Modi, Kishida called India an “indispensable partner” of Japan. He said, “It gives me great pleasure to be able to unveil my new vision on the soil of India which is our indispensable partner in realising a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

In the joint press statement, the Japanese PM said, “I formally invited PM Modi to G7 Hiroshima Summit and on the spot, my invitation was immediately accepted.”

Speaking about the economic cooperation between Japan and India, Kishida said, “Our economic cooperation with India which continues to grow rapidly will not only support the further development of India but also create significant economic opportunities for Japan. In this regard, we welcome that steady progress is being made towards realising 5 trillion yen of public & private investment in financing from Japan to India in 5 years.”