India, Japan ties have become strategic; visible increase in economic cooperation: EAM

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that the relationshiop between India and Japan has become strategic and there has been a very visible increase in economic cooperation between the two countries with an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from Japan.

“FDI inflows from Japan have gone up. The number of Japanese companies in India has gone up. ODA (Official development assistance) disbursements and projects which Japan is doing through that have scaled up,” Jaishnakar said at the launch of India-Japan report by FICCI,.

The external affairs minister further said that the fact Japan is the only country with which India has an annual summit as well as 2 plus 2 dialogue “tells how much more in sync we have become in terms of how we look at the world and define our interests.”

“This relationship has become strategic, each country perceives developments in others as having a strategic relevance to their calculations and we are talking much more about issues which go beyond our relatively narrow interests,” he said.

“Indian and Japanese leaders when they meet and talk now, the breadth of their conversation, landscape of interaction and the playing arena has become broader. That’s an important development, signifies maturing of relationship,” he added.