As a special gesture, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will travel to Kyoto to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi who begins his first foreign bilateral visit there on August 30.
Briefing newspersons on the PM’s Japan visit, a spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry said that the two leaders will attend a public event on August 31 at a temple which symbolises the confluence of the commonality between Indian and Japanese civilisations. Besides, with Modi keen on rejuvenating Indian cities as urban centres, Kyoto provides a magnificent example of how a city preserves it cultural heritage while also modernising itself. “It dovetails into the PM’s own emphasis on rejuvenation of cities in India while preserving their cultural heritage and also his focus on what is widely known as smart cities.
Consultations are also going on between Kyoto and Varanasi on trying to draw experiences which have been successful in Kyoto and replicating them in Varanasi. The PM is the sitting MP from Varanasi.
From Kyoto, the two Prime Ministers will go to Tokyo where they will have detailed discussions both in a restricted format and at the delegation level following which they are expected to attend the signing ceremony where agreements that have been concluded in the talks will be signed.
Modi will lay out his views on possibilities of cooperation between India and Japan in the economic sector at an address to the business community on the same day.