Yamanashi (Japan), Oct 28 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe here Sunday as the two leaders seek to add new vigour to the strong friendship between the two countries.
"Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @AbeShinzo meet at Yamanashi. They would be holding talks through the day on deepening India-Japan ties," Prime Minister Modi's office tweeted.
Modi, who arrived here last evening to attend the 13th India-Japan annual summit, has said that his meeting with Abe will add new vigour to the strong friendship between the two countries.
The two-day summit beginning Sunday will seek to review the progress in ties and deepen strategic dimension of the bilateral relationship.
Abe will host a luncheon for Modi at a scenic resort by Mt. Fuji.
After luncheon, they would visit a factory of industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc Corp. before moving on to the Japanese premier's vacation home nearby.
Abe will host Modi at his holiday home in the picturesque Yamanashi prefecture, west of Tokyo, for a private dinner Sunday following which both the leaders will travel to Tokyo by train.
Yamanashi, at a distance of around 110 kilometres from Tokyo, is surrounded by several mountains including Mount Fuji - the country's tallest peak at around 3,776 metres.
The two leaders will hold a formal summit Monday in Tokyo, during which strengthening bilateral security and economic cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda.
Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi described India and Japan as a "winning combination" and said the island nation was New Delhi's most trusted partner in its economic and technological modernisation.
Modi said it will be his 12th meeting with Abe since he first visited Japan as prime minister in September 2014.
During the summit, Modi will engage with Abe on a range of issues including defence and regional security.
Besides bilateral issues, the two leaders are expected to deliberate on a range of regional and global issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
It is said the prime minister's visit will reaffirm the traditional bonds of friendship between the two countries and strengthen their multi-faceted cooperation in diverse fields.
India is also hoping to have some kind of synergy or integration between Modi's Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is the largest medicare programme of its kind globally, and the Japanese programme which is called Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative.
Prime Minister Modi has said projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail and Dedicated Freight Corridors reflected 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'... Japanese investors have faith in India's economic future, which is marked with myriad opportunities," Modi said.
Modi will also address the Indian community function in Tokyo and will attend a series of business events and address the business forum.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ahmedabad, Apr 8 (PTI): The Congress is going to have a "massive organisational reshuffle", AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said on Tuesday as the party's top leaders met here and vowed to embark on the "path of social justice" espoused by Sardar Patel.
Briefing reporters after the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial here, Venugopal noted that the Congress has dedicated this year to a complete restructuring of the party organisation and the issue was discussed at length at the meeting.
"We are going to have a massive organisational reshuffle, and there will be guidelines for the same. Our general secretaries and in-charges are on it," he said.
Venugopal also stressed that measures to empower the party's district unit chiefs will be rolled out soon.
"We have already decided on that issue, empowering the DCC presidents and duties and powers of the DCCs has been discussed in various forums, already general secretaries and in-charges have approved the proposals and we are going to roll out that proposal in the near future," he said while replying to queries.
Venugopal said the Extended CWC passed a resolution that "our party will walk on the path showed to us by Sardar Patel ji".
"He stood up against the oppression of the British, fighting for the rights of workers and farmers. He rejected communal forces after Bapu’s assassination. He fought for an India where everyone had fundamental rights and freedoms.
"Today, as we embark on the path of social justice, our Nyay Path follows the same principles laid down by Sardar Patel," he said.
In his opening address at the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also asserted the party's claim to Sardar Patel's legacy and accused the BJP and RSS of trying to usurp it under a "well-planned conspiracy" against national heroes.
Kharge stressed that the Congress is taking forward the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Patel.
"Sardar Patel Saheb lives in our hearts, lives in our thoughts. We are taking his legacy forward. We have organised this CWC meeting in Ahmedabad at Sardar Patel Museum with this thought in mind. We pay our heartfelt tributes to him," he said.
Earlier in the day, AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot told reporters that the Congress intends to create more empowered district units with their presidents having enhanced accountability, responsibility and political strength.
He said that the Congress would fight the upcoming elections with strength and expressed confidence that the Congress and its supporting ideologies would come together to give the BJP and the NDA a tough challenge.
Briefing reporters outside the venue, Pilot said, "The intention of the Congress president and the Leader of Opposition is to create a more empowered district unit."
"The accountability, the responsibility and the political strength that we have thus given to the district presidents is set to be enhanced," he stressed.
The final outcome will be decided after the convention on Wednesday but the intention of the Congress is to make the District Pradesh Congress (DCC) presidents more empowered than before, the former Union minister said, adding the move is aimed at expanding the party's reach in villages, divisions and booths.
"The year 2025 is the year of the organisation to strengthen our workers, expand our party ideology and to make sure that the Congress reaches out in a mass contact programme through padyatras and door-to-door programmes," he said.
The party wants to send a clear message not just to its opponents but to its supporters and workers that the Congress will not step back and fight aggressively both within Parliament and outside, and make sure it wins the next political challenge, Pilot said.
"Elections are fought to be won, the next few elections we will fight with strength and I am supremely confident that the Congress and its supporting ideologies will come together to give the BJP and the NDA a tough challenge," Pilot said.
He said the resolution passed at the end of the session on April 9 will be named 'Nyay Path'.
"Tomorrow' session will write a new chapter in history," he said
The grand old party has announced that the Ahmedabad Session will be themed "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan aur Sangharsh", with more than 1,700 elected and co-opted AICC members attending the main conclave on April 9 on the banks of the Sabarmati river between the Sabarmati Ashram and Kochrab Ashram.