Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said  said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon be embarking on an official visit to Japan on the evening of August 28. He will be in Japan on August 29-30 to hold the 15th India-Japan annual summit with the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba. It is Prime Minister Modi’s first annual summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. 

This is his eighth visit to Japan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Japan and China from August 29 to September 1, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, PM Modi will travel to Japan from August 29-30 to participate in the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit. 

This will be Prime Minister Modi’s eighth visit to Japan and his first summit with Ishiba, the MEA added. During the visit, the two leaders will review the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, covering defence and security, trade and economy, technology and innovation, and people-to-people exchanges. 

They will also discuss issues of regional and global importance. The visit is expected to reaffirm the longstanding bond of friendship between the two countries, the MEA said. In the second leg of his visit, at the invitation of China’s President Xi Jinping, PM Modi will travel to China from August 31 to September 1 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin. 

On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders attending the Summit. India has been a member of the SCO since 2017 and held the presidency of the Council of Heads of State of the organisation during 2022-23, the MEA noted. In a continuation of ongoing engagement, earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed over a message and an invitation from President Xi Jinping for the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China.