In a first for any Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi tweeted in Japanese ahead of his five day visit to the country.
Modi is scheduled to leave for Japan on Saturday on his first major bilateral visit trip since becoming Prime Minister. In his tweets, Modi talked about the importance of the visit and what he hoped to gain from it.
Roughly translated, this is what he said in his seven tweets:
"I will be visiting Japan from August 30. I'm very excited about this visit that will strengthen our relations with Japan.
"This is my first bilateral visit outside the Indian subcontinent. The visit was planned for July but it became impossible because of the parliament session.
"With this visit to Japan I have the opportunity to take our relations with the country to a higher level, enhancing our cooperation in various fields.
From his first visit to the country as chief minister of Gujarat, he reminisced, "I visited Tokyo and Kyoto and interacted with all layers of Japanese society including its people, students, political leaders and business executives. I have very warm memories of their hospitality. I was deeply impressed and saw a wide range of opportunities for potential cooperation."
Modi said that Japan's scale of innovation deserved high praise. "India and Japan can learn a lot from each other," he added.
What he will look forward to most is meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Modi said, "I have deep respect for his leadership and have enjoyed a warm relationship with him till now." He also added, "India's friendship with Japan has stood the test of time. We are committed to the promotion of peace and prosperity of the world."
As seen with his visit to Nepal, one can expect to see the Prime Minister wear Japan's tradition attire during his visit. The visit will be important for Indian in several respects. Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to boost defence ties, speeding up talks on the sale of an amphibious aircraft to the Indian navy.
Modi will also seek Japan's backing in infrastructure, with the high-speed 'bullet' trains he promised voters during his election campaign. But most importantly, India is hoping to win Japan's backing for a civil nuclear energy pact. Japan is the only country to have suffered nuclear attack and an important part of the visit will be allaying their concerns about doing business with a nuclear-armed country. Read more.
(With agency inputs)
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