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India and Japan on Wednesday pledged to strengthen ties in the key areas of counter terrorism, civil nuclear cooperation, trade and investment as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Vientiane.
Prime Minister Modi, in his talks at the National Convention Centre in Vientiane, conveyed his condolences to Abe for the Japanese lives lost in the recent terror attack in Bangladesh in which 22 people were killed after Islamist terrorists stormed a cafe popular with foreigners.
Abe said Japan was not going to succumb to terrorism and expressed the desire to further strengthen cooperation with India in the area of counter-terrorism, External affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said of the nearly-45-minutes-long meeting.
Modi held talks with Abe after arriving in the Laotian capital to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-India and the East Asia summits that will take place on Thursday.
The two leaders discussed further strengthening and diversification of trade and investment ties.
Prime Minister Modi noted that Japan had technology and innovation while India had the power of youth and a huge market, Swarup said.
The India-Japan partnership could, therefore, produce global products and be a win-win partnership for both, Modi said in his meeting with Abe.
The two leaders discussed the upcoming Japanese industrial parks in India and the cooperation in the area of ship breaking.
They also reviewed the progress in the India-Japan Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement negotiations and the high-speed rail project, Swarup said.
Modi expressed appreciation for the consistent support rendered by Japan in India's infrastructure development, technology upgradation and skill building.
Premier Abe recalled that 2017 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Japan-India Cultural agreement. He hoped to see more Indian tourists visiting Japan.
The two leaders also discussed regional issues and international developments.
Abe said that he was looking forward to Modi’s visit to Japan for the annual summit and expressed hope that it would promote a new era of Indo-Japan co-operation.
Modi also expressed condolences for the recent typhoon that hit Japan. He is also scheduled to meet leaders from Myanmar and South Korea for bilaterals while officials said there could be some ‘pull aside’ meetings too during his visit in Vientiane.
This is Modi’s second meeting with Abe in less than six months. They had met on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April.
IMAGE: PM Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Vientiane on Wednesday. Photograph: @narendramodi/Twitter