Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met today with the Governors of various Prefectures of Japan. Sixteen Governors participated in the interaction.

In his address, Prime Minister noted that India-Japan contemporary ties, drawing vitality from the age-old civilizational connections between the two countries, have continued to flourish.

Highlighting the momentum in the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership across domains, he emphasised that time had come to give a renewed push to State-Prefecture engagement, going beyond the ties centred around Tokyo and Delhi.

In this context, he underlined the State-Prefecture Partnership Initiative launched at the 15th Annual Summit which would give a boost to trade, technology, tourism, skills, security and cultural linkages between the two countries.

He urged the Governors and Indian State governments to leverage the new initiative and forge partnerships in the fields of manufacturing, technology, innovation, mobility, next-generation infrastructure, start-ups and SMEs.