The leaders of India and Japan agreed Friday to bolster economic ties while also boosting cooperation in areas including clean energy and defense, as the two Asian powers face common challenges such as China\u2019s growing influence and U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n
Following their summit in Tokyo, Indian Prime Minister\u00a0Narendra Modi<\/a>\u00a0and Japanese Prime Minister\u00a0Shigeru Ishiba<\/a>\u00a0agreed on a goal of boosting Japanese private investment in India to about $6.8 billion a year over the coming decade, up from about $2.7 billion a year in the 2010s.<\/p>\n They also agreed to increase exchanges of workers and students to half a million people in the coming five years. The two governments hope India\u2019s young workforce can help address labor shortages caused by Japan\u2019s aging and declining population.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that Japanese technology and Indian talent are a winning combination,\u201d Modi told a news conference.<\/p>\n The two leaders released a \u201cjoint vision\u201d of cooperation for the next decade in areas such as security, defense, clean energy, technology and space, and signed a total of 11 documents.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the economies and vibrant democracies of the world, partnership is extremely important not just for our two countries but for global peace and stability as well,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have to take advantage of each other\u2019s strengths, to bring solutions to our challenges and to help each other,\u201d Ishiba said.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Ishiba will escort Modi on a bullet train to Sendai in northern Japan, for a tour of a factory that makes machinery for producing semiconductors, before the Indian leader flies to China, the next destination of his Asia tour.<\/p>\n Ishiba needs to rack up diplomatic successes to buoy public support because he is under pressure from opponents within his own party to step down over parliamentary elections results in July when his coalition lost its majority in the upper house.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s India-Japan summit came days after Modi\u00a0met China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi<\/a>\u00a0and hailed improving relations between the two sides, following yearslong\u00a0disputes over their Himalayan borders<\/a>.<\/p>\n At a business forum earlier Friday, Modi urged Japanese companies to invest in India, saying that reforms have created more a transparent and predictable business environment. \u201cIn India\u2019s development journey, Japan has always been an important partner,\u201d he told the forum hosted by Japan\u2019s powerful business lobby Keidanren.<\/p>\n