India, Japan hold ministerial-level talks to strengthen energy ties

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) India and Japan on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to energy security and inclusive growth and welcomed progress made in areas like energy efficiency, clean hydrogen, ammonia and renewable energy. 

At the energy dialogue, co-chaired by India’s Minister of Power Manohar Lal and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Muto Yoji, held through video conferencing, the two countries agreed to expand cooperation on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, green chemicals, biofuels, and advanced technologies in the energy sector.

The Ministers also emphasised that the India–Japan partnership will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing secure, resilient, and sustainable energy systems in the Indo-Pacific region.

India and Japan have been deepening their partnership in the energy sector under the Japan-India Clean Energy Partnership, with a focus on energy security, clean energy transition, and addressing climate change.

Both sides have institutionalised this cooperation through the India-Japan Energy Dialogue and sectoral Joint Working Groups (JWGs).

The Ministries of Power, New and Renewable Energy, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Coal made detailed presentations at the meeting on the progress achieved under their respective JWGs and outlined future cooperation pathways.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government plans to double the target for private-sector investment in India to 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) over the next 10 years, according to media reports from Tokyo.

Prime Ministers Shigeru Ishiba and Narendra Modi are expected to confirm the new target during their meeting in Tokyo on August 29, a source-based report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper said.

This plan will expand upon Japan’s current goal of investing 5 trillion yen over five years, which was announced in March 2022 by then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit to India.

The new investment goal is expected to be included in a joint statement following summit talks between Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart Ishiba.

PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to Japan starting August 29, his first since May 2023, when he attended the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

Japanese businesses have since invested nearly 1 trillion yen in India every fiscal year on average. The government plans to update the target to further encourage investment by the private sector, the report said.

--IANS

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