India-Japan joint statement names Pak, calls for rooting out terror safe havens

Modi and Kishida reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and called upon Pakistan to take resolute and irreversible action against terrorist networks operating out of its territory and comply fully with international commitments including to FATF.

New Delhi: In a significant diplomatic success for India, the joint statement issued after the India-Japan Summit has not only named Pakistan, but has also called upon all countries to work together for rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure.

The Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers expressed deep concern at the growing threat of terrorism and underlined the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

They called upon all countries to work together for rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halting cross-border movement of terrorists. In this context, they also called upon all countries to ensure that territory under their control is not used to launch terror attacks, to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks.

They reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and called upon Pakistan to take resolute and irreversible action against terrorist networks operating out of its territory and comply fully with international commitments including to FATF.

They also concurred to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts in multilateral fora, and to work together on early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the United Nations.

Prime Minister of Japan H.E. Mr. Kishida Fumio made an official visit to India, as his first bilateral visit, from 19 to 20 March 2022 for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit with H.E. Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

The Prime Ministers recognized that the Summit was taking place at a significant time as the two countries were celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations and India was celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence.

They reviewed the developments since the last Annual Summit and discussed wide ranging areas of cooperation.

Reaffirming the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, the Prime Ministers concurred that the shared values and principles enunciated in the India-Japan Vision Statement issued in 2018 are particularly relevant in the present context, where global cooperation is required more than ever to address challenges that have become more acute.

They highlighted their commitment to working in tandem towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world, based on a rules-based order that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, and emphasized the need for all countries to seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law without resorting to threat or use of force or any attempt to unilaterally change status quo. In this regard, they reaffirmed their common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, free from coercion.

They shared the view that the economies of both countries in such a world would be powered by robust bilateral investment and trade flows through diversified, resilient, transparent, open, secure and predictable global supply chains that provide for economic security and prosperity of their peoples. Reaffirming that the two countries would continue to work together to realize these shared objectives, they resolved to further advance the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

The Prime Ministers appreciated the significant progress made in security and defence cooperation and reaffirmed their desire to further deepen it. They welcomed the holding of the first 2+2 meeting of their Foreign and Defence Ministers in November 2019 in New Delhi and instructed their Ministers to hold the second meeting at the earliest opportunity in Tokyo.

They also welcomed the operationalization of the Agreement Concerning Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Indian Armed Forces. They expressed their commitment to continuing bilateral and multilateral exercises including “Dharma Guardian” and “Malabar” respectively, while welcoming the participation of Japan for the first time in exercise MILAN, as well as making efforts to increase their complexity in the future.

They reaffirmed the decision to proceed with coordination for the inaugural fighter exercise between the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the Indian Air Force and welcomed the efforts to hold the exercise at the earliest. They acknowledged ongoing collaboration in the area of Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and Robotics and directed their Ministers to further identify concrete areas for future cooperation in the area of defence equipment and technology.

The Prime Ministers confirmed the importance of building upon the achievements through annual mutual visits by the leaders, and looked forward to continuing such visits in the years ahead. Prime Minister Kishida thanked Prime Minister Modi for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and members of his delegation during his visit to India and extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Japan on the occasion of the Quad Leaders’ Summit. Prime Minister Modi accepted the invitation with great pleasure.