Japan Wants India to 'Cooperate Further' on Ukraine Crisis, Announces $42 Billion in Investments

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to "cooperate further" on the security crisis in Ukraine, as the two leaders met for an annual summit in New Delhi on Saturday.

Hikarika Ono, the press secretary at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters after the Modi-Kishida meeting that they both had "agreed on four important points" as far as the situation in Ukraine is concerned.

"Any attempt to change the status quo by force cannot be accepted anywhere in the world", the Japanese official listed out what she claimed was the first point of agreement.

"We should seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict", she added. Ono also said that both leaders agreed to "jointly tackle the situation", backed the immediate "cessation of violence", and wanted to break the "deadlock" in the ongoing peace talks.

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Ono further said that both nations would "jointly support" Ukraine and its neighbouring nations in tackling the "humanitarian crisis" caused by the fighting in Ukraine.

The joint statement signed by Modi and Kishida said that both varied slightly from the account of the meeting given by Ono. The statement "expressed their serious concern about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications, particularly to the Indo-Pacific region".

"They emphasised that the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states", the joint statement added.

It also called for "ensuring safety and security of the nuclear facilities" in Ukraine and "acknowledged active efforts of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) towards it".

The joint announcement comes against the backdrop of firing incidents at the Zaporozhye nuclear facility in Ukraine, with the Russian Defence Ministry this month accusing Ukrainian fighters of creating a provocation at the installation.

The Russian Defence Ministry has also accused Ukrainian "neo-Nazi battalions" of planning to blow up a nuclear reactor near Kharkov and blame Moscow for it.

Giving India's account of the meeting between Modi and Kishida, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said at a late evening press briefing that the Indian PM underscored that the "cessation of violence" was an "important factor" for both nations.

"The fact that humanitarian assistance is an element that both our countries believe in, and we are all also engaged in that", Shringla told reporters.

During their joint appearance at Delhi's Hyderabad House after the meeting, Modi didn't make any direct reference to Ukraine in his press statement. Kishida, on the other hand, mentioned the security crisis there.

A significant outcome of the meeting was Japan's pledge to enhance its investments in India over the next five years.

Around $42 billion will be invested in India by Japan's public and private sector over the next five years, which is higher than what Tokyo pledged in 2014, during a visit by Modi to Tokyo.

During his press briefing, Shringla said that the investment was a "sign of the level of cooperation in the economic domain that the two countries enjoy".

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