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Toshihiro Kitamura, Press Secretary and Official Spokesperson of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to the Japanese leader as his "Choti Behen" following the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit reflected the successful establishment of a personal bond of trust between the two leaders.
Speaking to ANI, he said one of the key objectives of Prime Minister Takaichi's maiden visit to India since assuming office last October was to build a strong personal rapport with Prime Minister Modi. "This is the very first visit for Prime Minister Takaichi to India since her taking office last October. And I think that one of the objectives of this visit is to build a personal bond of trust between two leaders. So in this context, I think that this meeting was successful in constructing such a bond of trust between two leaders," Kitamura said. This comes after Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a joint press statement with his Japanese counterpart following the India-Japan Annual Summit, warmly welcomed Takaichi and referred to her as his "younger sister (Choti Behen)". "I welcome Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi, my younger sister, to India for her first visit to the India-Japan Annual Summit. She is the first woman PM of Japan and also a visionary and popular leader. She is from Nara prefecture in Japan, with which India has Buddhist linkages," PM Modi said. The gesture was reciprocated by Prime Minister Takaichi during her statement, as she said the two leaders had agreed to take the India-Japan relationship forward "as brother and sister", underscoring the warmth and mutual trust that marked their discussions. The two Prime Ministers held wide-ranging talks covering economic security, artificial intelligence, clean energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, connectivity and regional cooperation. The summit concluded with several agreements and joint statements aimed at expanding the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership across emerging sectors. This comes as part of Takaichi's three-day official visit to India from July 1 to July 3 at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, during which she participated in the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, where both leaders reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation and discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest. (ANI)
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