Japan agrees to review CEPA upgrade with India
India and Japan have agreed to move forward with upgrading their 15-year-old Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirming Tokyo's willingness to review and modernise the pact during bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday.
Addressing a special media briefing on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's three-day official visit to India (July 1-3), Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the proposed upgrade of the CEPA was discussed at the summit.
"Yes, it was discussed, I can confirm that," Misri said in response to a question on whether the CEPA upgrade figured in the leaders' talks.
Bilateral trade not doing justice to two largest economies
He said Prime Minister Modi noted that bilateral trade, currently valued at around USD 25-27 billion, "does not really do justice to two of the largest economies in the world."
Misri added that while India and Japan already have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, "it is somewhat dated now, especially in the context of the new trade arrangements that are now being struck across the world."
He said India had recently proposed to Japan that it was time to undertake "a significant upgrade of the CEPA and review its provisions."
Japan confirms willingness to proceed
"And I can report to you that Prime Minister Takaichi confirmed during the discussions that Japan was prepared to look at the CEPA upgrade and that officials from both countries should get together to take the next steps on this. So, that's something that is very welcome," Misri said.
The commitment was also reflected in the joint statement issued after the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit.
The two Prime Ministers welcomed increasing Japanese private investment in India and appreciated progress towards the target of 10 trillion yen in investment announced at the previous summit.
Recognising that more than 15 years have passed since the CEPA was signed, the leaders agreed on the need to enhance and diversify bilateral trade.
"They concurred on accelerating the review of the implementation as well as full and effective utilisation of the CEPA to make it more forward-looking," the joint statement said.
Broader cooperation areas highlighted
The leaders also endorsed efforts under the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP) to strengthen cooperation in logistics, textiles, food processing, agriculture, automobiles and industrial capital goods. They reaffirmed the importance of expanding bilateral financial cooperation, including collaboration on payment systems and local currency transactions, and strengthening cooperation in healthcare, including pharmaceutical supply chains.
The joint statement also welcomed the inauguration of the India-Japan SME Forum and a Japanese SME mission to India focused on the aeronautical sector. Both sides expressed willingness to encourage greater participation of Japanese SMEs and startups in the Indian market under the Japan-India Startup Support Initiative (JISSI), while reaffirming their commitment to facilitate greater investment, industrial collaboration and technology partnerships between the two countries.
