Urges action under State-Prefecture Partnership Initiative launched at 15th Summit.
New Delhi, 30 August 2025
On the second day of his trip to Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba traveled by bullet train on Saturday. Ishiba later posted snippets of the trip on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, writing, “With Prime Minister Modi to Sendai,” as the two leaders boarded the high-speed train to Sendai.
During the journey, Prime Minister Modi met several Indian train drivers currently undergoing training at the East Japan Railway Company. The trainees, lined up to greet him, interacted with the Prime Minister, who also posed for pictures with them, underscoring India’s growing engagement in high-speed rail projects and skill-building collaborations with Japan. The visit carried special significance in the context of India’s ongoing bullet train project, which is being developed with Japanese assistance.
Earlier in the day, Modi held an important interaction in Tokyo with governors of 16 prefectures of Japan. At the meeting, he stressed the importance of enhancing state-to-prefecture partnerships, a framework formally launched during the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit. The Prime Minister emphasized that such collaborations could pave the way for stronger people-to-people ties and mutually beneficial growth.
Sharing highlights of the discussion, Modi posted on X that “state-prefecture cooperation is a vital pillar of India-Japan friendship,” noting that this initiative would foster concrete action at regional levels. He further pointed to vast opportunities for collaboration in diverse fields such as trade, innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment. Calling attention to futuristic sectors, Modi said startups, advanced technology, and artificial intelligence represent areas where both nations can achieve meaningful breakthroughs together.
