New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tokyo on Friday for the India-Japan Economic Forum, Modi Archive, which describes his life through archival records, recalled his first visit to the country in 2007 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.In April 2007, PM Modi launched a six -day visit to Japan, leading a 40 -member delegation of bureaucrats and industry leaders. Their mission: Performing Gujarat as the entrance to India for investment in industry, infrastructure and innovation.
Traveling via Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima and Cobe, PM Modi included corporate heavyweight including Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Suzuki, Toshiba, Nipon Steel and Tsunshi Shipbuilding. As a result of this journey, Jatro (Japan external trade organization) and the Department of Industries of Gujarat were mouses.“Port, Logistics, infrastructure and Human Resource Development were on the table at Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industries and Indo-Japan Friendship Forum, in which Gujarat picked themselves as a natural entry point for Japan in India’s development story,” Wrote by the Modi Archives on X.A major attraction PM Modi had a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, where the two leaders discussed the Delhi -Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). PM Modi presented Abe with a CD at Gujarat’s Buddhist heritage and a hand -made tribal shawl, inviting him to visit the kingdom. In turn, Abe assured Japan’s full support for the DMIC section of Gujarat, which strengthens a foundation for deep Indo-Japanese economic and cultural relations.“Perhaps the most prestigious moment of the journey came when it stepped into the cockpit of a Japanese bullet train. What if such a high -speed rail changed Indian connectivity?In April 2007, PM Modi moved through Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, stopping Fountain’s prayer and Suzuki Micichi at the literary monument. Later in Cobe, he joined a cultural program at the Bharat Club, a historic center for Indian migrants since 1904. The visit planted seeds of deep trade and cultural relations between Gujarat and Japan. By July 2012, PM Modi returned to a very big stage. Formally invited by the Government of Japan for a five-day visit (22–27 July), he was given a cabinet-rank reception-a honor rarely extended to a state leader. This was the 60th anniversary of the India -Japan diplomatic relations, and PM Modi’s packed journey program included 44 engagement in Tokyo, Hamamtsu, Nagoya, Osaka and Cobe. PM Modi met with major Japanese ministers – Koichiro Gemba (Foreign Affairs), Yukio Adano (Trade and Industry), Yuchiro Hata (Infrastructure and Transport), and Deputy PM Katsuya Okada – which were accompanied by Hideki Omura of Achie and Hyogo’s Toshejo Ido. Among Jatro’s investment seminars, he picked Gujarat as an investor-friendly, power-surplic state, emphasizing ports, logistics and industrial corridors. Business diplomacy was Central: PM Modi had extensive meetings with corporate leaders, including Suzuki Motors President Osamu Suzuki with a historic session. Visiting facilities and sharing lunch with them, Modi picked Gujarat as the next automotive hub in Asia. The round-table at Mizuho Corporate Bank and Imperial Hotel deepened corporate relations. Infrastructure was another attraction. While riding Shinkinsen from Tokyo to Hamamtsu, PM Modi discovered possibilities for high-speed rail and metro projects in Gujarat, focusing on models of Japan’s speed, efficiency and security. At the Cobe Port, he studied marine systems that could guide their port of Gujarat, which confirms the state’s centrality in the Delhi -Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Cultural outreach balanced diplomacy. PM Modi addressed the Gujarat Samaj of Japan, met members of the India Center Foundation, and was honored at a reception organized by HCCI President Mimuro. At Cobe’s India Club, he continued with a diaspora and even riding a symbolic boat at the port.
