India, Japan to develop strategic and global partnership: Dr Manmohan Singh

Describing his talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe as "very fruitful", Dr Manmohan Singh said both India and Japan shared common values and responsibilities to ensure peace and prosperity in the region.

He said New Delhi "deeply appreciated" Abe`s words of friendship expressed during his address to Parliament today. Singh spoke of a "comprehensive and forward looking vision" of how the two countries could move forward.

"We have today agreed to lay down a roadmap to impart a new dimension to strategic and global partnership between the two countries," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here after the delegation level talks.

Separately, welcoming the Japanese business delegation accompanying the prime minister Shinzo Abe, in New Delhi, today, Dr Manmohan Singh said, there were enormous complementarities and commercial potential that exists in a strategic alliance between a technologically advanced, mature industrial economy like Japans and a rapidly growing developing country like India's.

He pointed out to India's aspiration to reach and sustain double-digit rates of annual economic growth, the guiding principle of which would be harness growth towards employment generation, poverty reduction and human development.

"As businessmen, you will understand the implications of these policies in terms of their impact in the years ahead on our labour and consumer markets."