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PM Modi meets former Japanese Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida, Yoshihide Suga
PM Modi met former Japanese leaders in Tokyo to strengthen ties, discussing trade, technology, and cultural connections, highlighted by a Daruma doll gift.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met former Japanese premiers Fumio Kishida and Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo and discussed bilateral relations with the leaders who had contributed to building closer ties with India.
Modi and Kishida reviewed progress in areas such as trade, critical technologies and human resource mobility, and noted the potential for collaboration in futuristic sectors such as semiconductors, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a social media post.
Suga, who is now chairperson of the Japan-India Association, and Modi discussed the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, technology and AI.
Modi also met Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga and a delegation of MPs and discussed the strengthening of parliamentary exchanges, cultural linkages and human resource development. They also focused on cooperation in key sectors such as the economy, health, science and technology.
Later, Modi was presented a Daruma doll by Reverend Seishi Hirose, the chief priest of the Shorinzan Daruma-Ji temple at Takasaki-Gunma. This gesture reflected the close civilisational and spiritual ties between India and Japan, the external affairs ministry said.
The Daruma doll is considered a good luck charm in Japanese culture. Takasaki city in Gunma prefecture is the birthplace of these dolls. The Daruma tradition in Japan is based on the legacy of Bodhidharma, an Indian monk from Kancheepuram, who is known in Japan as Daruma Daishi and is said to have travelled to the country more than 1,000 years ago.
“It was an honour to meet Rev Seishi Hirose, Chief Priest of Shorinzan Daruma-Ji Temple in Takasaki-Gunma. My gratitude to him for presenting a Daruma Doll. Daruma is considered to be an important cultural symbol in Japan and also has a connect with India. It is influenced by Bodhidharma, a noted monk,” Modi said on social media.
