Following is the text of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's departure statement prior to his visit to Japan. 

"I will visit Japan on 28-29 October 2018 for the Annual Summit. This will be my twelfth meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since my first visit to Japan as Prime Minister in September 2014. Thereafter, I had visited Japan in 2016 for the Annual Summit.

Last year, I had the pleasure of hosting Prime Minister Abe and Mrs. Akie Abe in my home state Gujarat also. Japan is India’s valued partner. We have a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Our ties with Japan, both economic and strategic, stand completely transformed in recent years. It is today a partnership of great substance and purpose. It rests on the strong pillars of India’s Act East Policy, and our shared vision and commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

As democracies, we have shared values. We seek peace and prosperity for all.

Our complementarities make India and Japan a winning combination. Japan today is one of the most trusted partners in India’s economic and technological modernisations and one of the top investors in India. Projects like Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail and Dedicated Freight Corridors reflect the high level and strength of our economic engagement. Japan is also at the forefront of engaging in our national initiatives, such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Start Up India’, etc.

Japanese investors have faith in India’s economic future, which is marked with myriad opportunities. 

We value Japan’s global leadership in innovation, technologies and best practices. During this visit, I will have a chance to see some of Japan’s high-tech capabilities in robotics.

I will have wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and interact with business leaders and captains of industry from both countries. I will also address the Indian community.

These interactions will help to further strengthen our trade and investment ties, and cooperation in new areas, such as healthcare, digital technologies, agriculture and food processing, disaster risk reduction and disaster resilient infrastructure.

I greatly welcome the growing ties between our parliamentarians, and between our states and Japan’s prefectures. It is a matter of happiness that direct relations between the peoples of our two countries continue to grow through active interaction in areas such as education, skill development, culture and tourism.

My visit will promote our traditional friendship that is deeply rooted in history, and consolidate our partnership for a better and more prosperous future."

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AKT/KP/SK