March 22, 2023: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is asking his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to the Seven summits in May and inform action plans for a recent Indo-Pacific initiative to counter China’s regional influence.

On a two-day trip to India, Kishida said he hopes to promote a view of a free and wide Indo-Pacific, a Tokyo-led initiative for significant security and economic cooperation to curb Beijing’s growing assertiveness. It includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, maritime security support, coast guard patrol boats and equipment, and other infrastructure cooperation.

It fits with Japan’s recent national security strategy adopted in December. Tokyo, Japan, deploys long-range cruise missiles to strengthen its strike-back capability and strategically use development aid to support like-minded countries.

India, heading this year’s Group of 20 industrial and starting-market nations, says ties with Japan are crucial to stability in the region. The two nations, the United States and Australia make up the Indo-Pacific alliance like the Quad.

China’s territorial states in the East China and South China seas rattle Beijing’s smaller countries in Southeast Asia and Japan, facing threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile development. The relationship between New Delhi and Beijing deteriorated in 2020 when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along their undefined level in the Himalayan Ladakh area, which left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.

Kishida also talked with Modi to deepen bilateral cooperation while addressing food security and development financing. The two leaders said they would closely cooperate in dealing with a wide limit of global challenges, which include the increasing cost of energy and food supplies that the war has exacerbated in Ukraine by Russia.

Kishida stated that Modi accepted his invitation to participate in the G-7 summit of huge industrial nations, held in Hiroshima in May. He told reporters that he would also invite seven other heads of non-G-7 countries, which include South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a step toward improving Japan-South Korea ties and bringing Seoul closer to different key players in the strategic map of the region.

In his statement, Kishida stated that he told Modi that he hopes to take up deals at the summit, which include upholding the rules-based international order and making the partnership with the international community that goes beyond G-7, including the Global South, a term used for increasing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The two leaders discussed their priorities for representing the presidencies of the G-7 and G-20, Modi said in a speech.

Japan is holding the G-7 presidency in 2023 and seeking deeper ties with developing states laying the groundwork for a successful summit.