Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order.
Speaking yesterday during his Japan trip, PM Modi asserted that New Delhi is ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity.
In an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, published during his ongoing visit to Japan, Modi also asserted that stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China — as two neighbours and two among the largest nations on earth — can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity.
Asked about the importance of improving relations with China at this time, Modi said, “At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I would be travelling to Tianjin from here to take part in the SCO Summit. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, steady and positive progress has been made in our bilateral ties.”
This Japan-China combined visit by PM Modi comes immediately after the imposition of 50 per cent Trump tariffs on India as ‘penalty’ for buying Russian crude oil. The global trade war started by US President Donald Trump is widely seen as the factor that would bring the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and several others) nations closer together.
“Given the current volatility in the world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order,” Modi said.
Free and open Indo-Pacific; Russia-Ukraine war
On his views on the Japanese government’s concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific, Modi said there is a strong convergence between Japan’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and India’s own approach encapsulated in its Indo-Pacific vision, in ‘Vision MAHASAGAR’ and the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative.
India and Japan are committed to an Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, prosperous, stable, and where the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations are respected, the prime minister said.
“Both our countries have strong and extensive linkages with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and we both engage with some of them in plurilateral formats to give expression to our shared objectives,” he said.
Talking about his recent conversations with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Modi said that India has maintained a principled and humanitarian stance on the conflict, which is equally appreciated by both President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“In line with this, both the leaders spoke to me to share their perspectives on the developments related to the conflict. I reiterated India’s principled and consistent stand and encouraged dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict. I have already indicated India’s willingness to support meaningful efforts aimed at achieving peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he told the Japanese newspaper.
