The Hindu : International / India & World : Focus on `intensifying' India-Japan ties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004

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International - India & World

Focus on `intensifying' India-Japan ties

By P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, NOV. 2. The Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and other political leaders today expressed satisfaction over the present state of Tokyo's relations with India and spoke of hopes for "further consolidation and expansion of the areas of friendship" between the two countries.

This was indicated by the Lok Sabha Speaker and leader of the Indian parliamentary delegation, Somnath Chatterjee, after talks with Japanese leaders. He told The Hindu that the political ambience, in which the discussions took place, was one of working together in the context of the India-Japan "global partnership" and their willingness to support each other's candidature for the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.

The former Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, whose visit to India in August 2000 helped fashion the ongoing "global partnership" at the bilateral level, was among the leaders that the Indian delegation met in Tokyo today. The team also had an audience the Indian parliamentarians had with the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

While political and economic cooperation between India and Japan was a primary theme of the various meetings, particular emphasis was laid on the importance of exchanges between the parliamentarians of the two countries through visits and other means of communication.

While the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Japanese Communist Party, Kazuo Shii, met the Indian delegation, the Japan-India Parliamentarians Friendship League hosted lunch and India's Ambassador to Japan, M. L. Tripathi, held a reception for the lawmakers from both sides.

Accepting a renewed invitation to visit India, Mr. Koizumi said he would like to do so at the earliest possible opportunity. Mr. Chatterjee and the Japanese Prime Minister agreed that bilateral exchanges at all levels should be "intensified," according to a press statement issued by the Indian side.

U.N. reforms

Mr. Mori expressed "appreciation" of the Indian democratic system and noted that the current visit to Japan by a parliamentary delegation from India, after a gap of 15 years, would "rejuvenate links" between the two democracies. The Indian team and the Japanese Foreign Minister, Nobutaka Machimura, expressed satisfaction over the present level of bilateral cooperation on the issue of U.N. Security Council reforms.

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