'During my visit to Japan and after meeting with Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe, I gladly recall that in our joint declaration we mentioned Asia-Africa growth corridor and proposed further conversation with our brothers and sisters of Africa,' Prime Minister Modi said.
The pitch comes close on the heels of China launching its multi-billion dollar OBOR initiative
'Modi and Abe are working seriously for India-Japan bonhomie to grow stronger.' 'It is a win-win situation for both countries and the future look promising,' says Rajaram Panda, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations India Chair Visiting Professor at Reitaku University, Japan.
Joe Biden's B3W proposal aims to bring democracies together. India should come up with its own plans to contribute to the initiative, states Rahul Mishra.
The PM will pay a two-day visit to Japan from October 28-29 to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Abe. The focus of the visit will be to further expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, carry out joint infrastructure projects in third countries and further boost ties key sectors like defence and trade.
'That the two sides allowed such a situation to arise exposed the level of inaction and inefficiency in China-India border management.' 'The Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen initiated a process to to avert such contingencies in the future.'
The country must get its act on global alliances right in order to feed its fuel-hungry economy, points out Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Moon Jae-in's visit will play a crucial role in exploring complementarities between India's Act East policy and South Korea's New Southern policy, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
With the signing of the pact, the Quad grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US is set to gain more heft now, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
We must see New Delhi's position as a signal of competition to the Chinese grand design for the 21st century world, says Nitin Pai.
China sees India and Japan's 'North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project' as a challenge to its OBOR, says Rajaram Panda.
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
