Modi discusses Indo-Pacific, supply chain with Australian, Japanese Prime Ministers

Fast changing developments in the Indo-Pacific region, the necessity to maintain free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and resilient supply chain initiatives dominated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meetings with his Japanese and Australian counterparts in Washington ahead of the Quad Summit.

In his meeting with Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan, the two leaders reviewed the multi-faceted relationship between the two countries and exchanged views on recent global and regional developments, including in Afghanistan. They reaffirmed their commitment towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, officials said.

Modi and Suga have agreed to enhance bilateral security and defence cooperation, including in the area of defence equipment and technologies, officials said.


The two leaders also welcomed the launch of the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) between India, Japan and Australia earlier this year as a collaborative mechanism to enable resilient, diversified and trustworthy supply chains. Suga informed Modi that in order to operationalise the Specified Skilled workers (SSW) agreement, which was signed earlier this year, the Japanese side would be undertaking skill and language tests in India from early 2022, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

The two prime ministers discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to address it. They highlighted the increasing importance of digital technologies and positively evaluated the progress in the India-Japan digital Partnership, especially in start-ups. They exchanged views on further collaboration in various emerging technologies, officials informed.

With Australian Prime Minister Morrison, this was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders in the post-pandemic period. The last bilateral meeting between Modi and Morrison was the Leaders' Virtual Summit held on June 4, 2020, when the Strategic Partnership between India and Australia was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.