EAM Jaishankar holds talks on bilateral cooperation, global and regional issues with Japanese counterpart Motegi

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu on Monday held wide-ranging talks focusing on economic fallout of the West Asia crisis in view of disruptions in energy supply chains.

Motegi is in New Delhi to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad nations.

"India and Japan have a special strategic and global partnership and that signals that our ties have a larger implication, larger importance and larger impact," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

In a post on social media, the External Affairs Minister, after the meeting, said the discussions focused on "various facets of our cooperation including economic security, trade, energy, supply chain resilience, shipping, technology and innovation, and people to people ties".

"Also shared views on global and regional developments including the West Asia situation and its implications," he said.

"As we approach the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic ties, our Special Strategic and Global Partnership continues to deepen and diversify for mutual benefit," Jaishankar added.

In his opening remarks, the external affairs minister also made a mention of Tuesday's Quad meeting and said it will discuss how to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific.

In the talks, the two sides deliberated on bilateral cooperation, global and regional issues, especially the West Asia crisis and its impact on energy supply chains.

Jaishankar suggested that both India and Japan are impacted by the conflict as both are energy importing and trading nations and have maritime interests.

The two sides also deliberated on issues relating to economic security with Jaishankar describing them as "very important" .

The Quad meeting in New Delhi will be attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Motegi, with Jaishankar presiding over it.

The Quad, comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan, has emerged as a key grouping largely focusing on peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

India is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the coalition.