Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the unprecedented gesture of travelling to Kyoto to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi yesterday, flagging the importance of the growing relationship between Asia’s second and third-largest economies.
Abe normally meets dignitaries in the capital Tokyo, and travelling 500 kilometres to Kyoto clearly means that the Japanese are going out of their way to honour the Indian PM, local observers said.
“Japanese leaders have hosted get-togethers in Kyoto before but this is the first time I can recall that the prime minister went to meet a visiting dignitary and thereby honour his arrival,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.
Ahead of the dinner, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a “partner city affiliate” agreement for Kyoto and Varanasi covering city modernisation and conservation intended to be a framework for smart heritage cities.
The Kyoto leg of the trip, kept secret until close to the date of Modi’s arrival, has interesting resonances. The city is the old imperial capital of Japan, something an ardent nationalist like Abe is bound to cherish.
That it is a prime example of how to develop a heritage city without losing its character chimes nicely with Modi’s plans for his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.
“The choice of venue is significant because it is a chance to highlight to Modi Japan’s most attractive urbanscape where tradition and modernity have been balanced and highlight the common cultural roots in Buddhism,” said Kingston.
Takashi Shimada, president of the Indo Business Centre consultancy, called the Abe initiative unprecedented, adding that it was “a clear message to our neighbours,” a reference to China.
