Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a summit meeting on November 11, 2016. Following the Joint Statement, they instructed relevant authorities to further advance cooperation in the following areas. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to continue annual summit meetings to give strategic directions to broad and diverse bilateral agenda.

Ministerial Dialogues

• Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy of India and METI Minister of Japan co-chaired the 8th India-Japan Energy Dialogue held in Tokyo in January 2016.
• Prime Minister Abe and Minister of State for Home Affairs of India participated in "Shared Values and Democracy in Asia” symposium in January 2016.
• Health Minister of India visited Tokyo to participate in the Meeting of Health Ministers on Antimicrobial Resistance in Asia in April 2016.
• State Minister of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan led a mission of Japanese companies in cooperation with JETRO to Andhra Pradesh (AP) in May 2016.
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Minister of Japan visited New Delhi in May 2016.
• Finance Minister of India visited Japan in May 2016.
• Defense Minister of Japan visited New Delhi to participate in the annual Defence Ministerial Dialogue in July 2016.
• Ministerial meeting of the G-4 countries on UNSC Reform took place in New York in September 2016.
  
  Other Political Dialogues
  
  
• The meetings of Foreign Secretary of India and Vice Foreign Minister of Japan were held in January, February and October 2016.
• The second round of Japan–India–Australia Trilateral Dialogue at the Secretary/Vice-Minister level was held in Tokyo in February 2016.
• Chief Justice of India visited Japan in May 2016.
• Director-General level meetings of the G-4 countries on UNSC Reform took place in New Delhi in March 2016, in Tokyo in June 2016 and in New York in September 2016.
• The 8th India-Japan-USA Director-General level Trilateral Dialogue was held in Tokyo in June 2016.
• National Security Advisors led consultation was held in Tokyo in July and in New Delhi in November 2016.
• Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan participated in the 1st Raisina Dialogue in Delhi in March 2016.
• The 5th India-Japan bilateral consultation on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament was held in New Delhi in August 2016.
• A parliamentary delegation led by Mr. Hiroyuki Hosoda, President, Japan-India Parliamentarians’ Friendship League (JIPFL), visited India in September 2016.
• The Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2016 was held in New Delhi in November.
• The 5th India-Japan Dialogue on Africa was held in Tokyo in November 2016.
• India-Japan Track 1.5 Dialogue on Strategic and Security Issues was held at Tokyo in March 2016 and at Delhi in October 2016. The former was co-hosted by JIIA and ICRIER and the latter was co-hosted by JIIA and DPG.
• The meeting for cooperation in the field of ICT of Secretary Telecommunication of India and Vice-Minister of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan was held in September 2016 in New Delhi.
  
  Security Cooperation
  
  
• The Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) held the inaugural Air Staff Talks in February 2016.
• International Fleet Review-2016, hosted by Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam in February 2016 saw participation by Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) led by JMSDF Chief of Staff. JMSDF Ship "JS Matsuyuki” participated in the event.
• Sixth round of Indian Navy - JMSDF Staff Talks was held at Tokyo in March 2016.
• A bilateral dialogue in New Delhi and joint exercise off the coast of Chennai between the Japan Coast Guard and the Indian Coast Guard were held in January 2016. In conjunction with HACGAM held in Jakarta, the joint exercise among the Japan Coast Guard, the Indian Coast Guard and Indonesian maritime authorities was conducted off the coast of Jakarta in October 2016 and observed by HAGAM members.
• The Japan Coast Guard participated in the 7th Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise– 2016 (SAREX-16) hosted by Indian Coast Guard in Mumbai in May 2016.
• 2016 MALABAR exercise with participation from the Indian Navy, U.S. Navy & JMSDF was held in Sasebo (Japan) in June 2016.
• The 2nd Joint Working Group Meeting on Defence Equipment & Technology Cooperation (JWG-DETC) was held in New Delhi in August 2016.
• A Passage Exercise off the coast of Mumbai between Indian Navy ships (INS Mysore and INS Brahmaputra) and JMSDF ships (Yuudachi and Yuugiri) was held in August 2016.
• Indian Army Band participated in the annual Japan Self-Defense Forces Marching Band Festival in November 2016.
• The defence cooperation between Japan and India has enhanced further in service level interactions in the field of HA/DR, test pilot exchanges, aircraft and aircrew exchanges, and training interactions.
  
  Trade, Economic and Functional Cooperation
  
  
• The meeting of the Joint Committee under bilateral CEPA at the level of Commerce Secretary and Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan was held at New Delhi in July 2016.
• The 15th India-Japan High level Economic Policy Dialogue 2016 and 6th DMIC Smart Community Working Group took place in Tokyo in October 2016.
• The 8th Japan-India Strategic Dialogue on Economic Issues at the level of Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance was held at New Delhi in July 2016.
• The 9th Joint Working Group Meeting on Urban Development was held at Tokyo in July 2016.
• The 3rd meeting of the Japan-India Joint Working Group on Roads and Road Transport was held at New Delhi in October 2016.
• The 2nd India-Japan Financial Dialogue was held at New Delhi in January 2016. The 3rd Dialogue was held at Tokyo in September 2016.
• The Protocol amending the Convention between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of India for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income entered into force in October 2016.
• Champions for Societal Manufacturing (CSM) Project, including the sub-project "Village Buddha,” is set to continue as a valuable Japanese contribution to "Make in India,”; the duration of the CSM Project has been extended till September, 2018. CSM is a unique collaboration between government, private sector and academia.
• The Social Security Agreement (SSA) came into force in October 2016.
• An MoU between State Bank of India and Japan Finance Corporation was signed in November 2016.
• An MoU between National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited, India (NIIF) and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development, Japan (JOIN) was signed in November 2016.
• An MoC between the METI and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India on the Manufacturing Skill Transfer Promotion Programme was signed in November 2016.
• Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan held Public-Private Joint committee on Skills Evaluation System Promotion on January 2016.
• METI and MLIT started a cooperation project for training automobile-mechanics by dispatching an expert to Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Pusa, New Delhi in November 2016 and by translating Japanese automobile mechanics textbook into Hindi.
• Logistics Data Bank project has started commercial operation in July 2016 as the first joint project between Japan and India at the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) states.
  
  High Speed Railways
  
  
• The 1st Joint Committee Meeting on Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railways was held at Mumbai in February 2016. The 2nd Meeting was held at Tokyo in May 2016. The 3rd meeting was held at Delhi in October 2016.
  
  Energy Cooperation
  
  
• The 1st India-Japan Energy Storage Taskforce Meeting was held at Tokyo in February 2016.
• India-Japan Joint Seminar on Smart Grids / Smart Meters was held at New Delhi in August 2016.
• An MoU among New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Japan (NEDO); Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; and All India Institutes of Medical Sciences concerning the demonstration project for ICT based green hospital at AIIMS in Delhi will be signed in November 2016.
• An MoU between Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) & Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) for collaboration on research and development of the technologies pertaining to methane hydrate has been extended, in February 2016, for a period of 3 years until February 2019.
  
  Cultural Exchange and People Exchange
  
  
• Bilateral visa regime between India and Japan has been relaxed further. India now provides 10-year validity visas for temporary business and tourism purposes to Japanese nationals and launched Visa on Arrival facility, in addition to e-Tourist visa facility already available, to Japanese nationals with the inclusion of increased categories of visas. Japan has relaxed visa requirements of multiple visa for temporary visitors and started to provide 10 year validity visas for temporary business purposes to Indian nationals. Japan announced a simplification of visa procedure for Indian students.
• Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) is working on opening of an office in New Delhi to enhance tourism between Japan and India.
• The first India-Japan Tourism Council Meeting was jointly organised by Ministry of Tourism of India and Japan Tourism Agency in October 2016.
  
  Education, Culture and Sports
  
  
• The inaugural Symposium celebrating the collaboration of Indo-Japan Historical Studies was jointly organized by Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at New Delhi in January 2016.
• The 1st Meeting of the India-Japan High Level Policy Dialogue on Education was held in Tokyo in July 2016.
• The MoC in the field of sports between Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, India and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan was signed in November 2016.
• The MoC in the field of Cultural Exchange was signed between the Ministry of Culture, India and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science, Japan in November 2016.
• A training course was implemented, in September 2016, at Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA of Kyoto University) for five Indian researchers from collaborating institutes under the Indian programme on "Accelerating the Application of Stem-Cell Technology in Human Disease.”
  
  Health
  
  
• The two leaders noted the first-ever Yoga Certification examination outside of India, held in Tokyo in April 2016, and conducted by the Quality Council of India with the support of Government of India.
• The 1st India-Japan Medical Products Regulation Symposium was held at New Delhi in May 2016 in pursuance of the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between MHLW and CDSCO in December 2015.
• A Letter of Intent was signed in Tokyo in April 2016 between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan on Antimicrobial Resistance Research.
• A round table conference on the cooperation program such as development of medical devices and emergency and disaster medical care among the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Osaka University, Osaka City University, Tottori University and National Disaster Medical Center was held in August in 2016. Science and Technology
• Pursuant to the Letter of Intent (LoI) signed between Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Japan Science & Technology Agency (JST) to setup the Joint Laboratories in the area of ICT in December 2015, three projects for setting up the Indo-Japan Joint Laboratories have been approved for support by both sides -
  
  (i) Architecting Intelligent Dependable Cyber Physical System Targeting IoT and Mobile Big Data Analysis (IIT, Bombay & University of Tokyo)
  
  (ii) Security in the Internet of Things Space (IIT Delhi & Kyushu University)
  
  (iii) Data Science-based Farming Support System for Sustainable Crop Production under Climatic Change (IIT Hyderabad & University of Tokyo)
  
  
• There has been an enhanced exchange (approx. 500 students in 2016) under "Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science”.
• An MoC between Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) was signed in November 2016.
• An MoU between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was signed in November 2016.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan welcome that they plan to co-host 24th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-24) in late 2017 in India.
• Scholarship and internship opportunities will be offered to Asian Students including Indian students under Japan's "Innovative Asia” initiative, with which universities and research institutes such as the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), RIKEN, and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) will cooperate.
  
  Agriculture and Food
  
  
• An MoC between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare of India in the field of Agriculture and Food Related Industry was signed in November 2016.
• A delegation composed of Andhra Pradesh (AP) government officials and representatives from companies of AP visited Tokyo in March 2016 to pursue business opportunities in the field of agriculture and food industry.
  
  Textiles
  
  
• An MoU between Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and Japan Textile Products Quality and Technology Center (QTEC) was signed in November 2016.
• An MoU between Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation, Japan for Collaborative Research in the Field of Silkworm and Silk Industries was signed in November 2016.
  
  State-Prefecture level cooperation
  
  
• Kyoto Governor visited India in December 2015 under the EA Division’s Distinguished Visitors Programme.
• Governor of Toyama visited India in December 2015. Toyama has a State-to-Prefecture level agreement with Andhra Pradesh.
• Chief Minister of Haryana visited Tokyo and Osaka in January 2016. During the visit, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and Mizuho Bank Ltd. signed an MoU to promote Industrial and Infrastructure Development.
• An MoU between the State of Gujarat and Hyogo Prefectural Government to establish a framework of cooperation to promote the advancement of technology and the expansion of trade and investment was signed in November 2016.
  
  Development Assistance
  
  
• The Exchange of Notes for irrigation improvement in Jharkhand, road connectivity in North Eastern India, transmission improvement in Madhya Pradesh, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), sewerage facilitation in Odisha, and provision of medical equipment and capacity building in Tamil Nadu were signed in March 2016.