Observing that maritime safety and security have become pressing concerns for the globe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday pitched for India and Japan strengthening their defence capabilities for the benefit of the larger region.

Addressing the first Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo, Mr Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Japan, also noted that trade between India and Japan has stagnated but investments have been much more dynamic. ”Make in India” and ”Export from India”, are two possibilities which should be explored by Japanese companies, he added.

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Hailing India’s growth story, Mr Jaishankar said it is important that Japan appreciates the pace of change in India. ”This is a country today which is building 28 km of highway every day, which is creating 8 new airports every year, which is establishing one and a half to two metros every year, which has for the last 10 years built two new colleges every day,” he pointed out.

Emphasising India’s flourishing growth, the Indian minister said, “This transformation of India makes us a more effective and credible partner, whether it is the ease of doing business, ease of living, digital delivery, startup, and innovation culture or shaping the international agenda, India is clearly a very different country today.” He said India is working on major corridors today, both to its east and west.

“They include the IMAC (India Middle East-Europe Corridor) initiative through the Arabian Peninsula and the international north-south transport corridor and towards east the trilateral highway…these corridors, when completed, will connect the Atlantic to the Pacific through Asia. Two nations (India and Japan) have converging views about the need for transparent and collaborative connectivity,” Mr Jaishankar said.

He also spoke at length on Global South and underlined that India is conscious of the responsibility. “As the voice of the global south, India is conscious of the responsibility, our development efforts today span 78 nations across different continents, can India and Japan coordinate in regards to their developmental systems?…maritime safety and security have become particularly pressing concerns.”

Mr Jaishankar noted that the most universal expression of the global order is still the United Nations. Its reform is, therefore, of paramount importance. ”As fellow members of the G4 grouping, India and Japan seek to make the UN structures more contemporary. This is clearly an uphill task but one in which we must persevere,” he added.

He said the world is heading for re-globalisation with the building of resilient and reliable supply chains and trusted and transparent digital transactions. India and Japan are natural partners in that regard. As democracies and market economies, India and Japan also share basic affinities. ”Our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific is being taken forward by the Quad with each passing year,” he noted.