PM Modi Reaches Sendai; Travels with Japanese PM Ishiba on Iconic Shinkansen

TOKYO:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sendai, Japan, on Saturday, where he travelled aboard the iconic Shinkansen (bullet train) alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Sharing a glimpse of the journey on social media platform X, PM Modi posted: “Reached Sendai. Travelled with PM Ishiba to this city on the Shinkansen.”

As the Prime Minister reached Sendai, he was greeted with enthusiastic chants of “Modi-san, welcome!” by members of the Indian diaspora and local well-wishers, reflecting the warmth and admiration shared by people in Japan.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi met with the governors of 16 Japanese prefectures in Tokyo and underlined the transformative potential of inter-regional partnerships in areas ranging from trade and innovation to startups and emerging technologies.

In a post shared on social media platform X, the Prime Minister wrote: “This morning, I held an exchange of views with the governors of 16 prefectures in Japan in Tokyo. Cooperation between states and prefectures is an important pillar in the friendship between India and Japan.

“Therefore, at the 15th India-Japan Summit held yesterday, an initiative on this inter-regional cooperation was launched. There is great potential for cooperation in areas such as trade, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and advanced fields like startups, technology, and AI will also be beneficial to both sides.”

The meeting was part of the broader agenda of the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit, where both sides launched the State-Prefecture Partnership Initiative to institutionalise and expand sub-national collaborations.

The initiative aims to foster direct engagement between Indian states and Japanese prefectures, opening avenues for deeper economic integration, joint innovation, skill exchange, and investment partnerships at the regional level.

During the interaction, Prime Minister Modi emphasised the importance of creating direct linkages between Indian states and Japanese regions, especially in technology, innovation, investment, skill development, start-ups, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

India and Japan on Friday announced the launch of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative to advance collaboration in Large Language Models (LLMs), training, capacity building and support for businesses and start-ups to foster a trustworthy AI ecosystem.

The two nations also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Digital Partnership 2.0 during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tokyo.