Lockdown Blues: Japan Wants India To Help Its Firms Resume Operations

New Delhi: Japan wants the Indian government to grant permission to Japanese companies vis-à-vis resuming their operations in India.

Japan’s foreign minister Motegi Toshimitsu conveyed the message to Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar during a telephonic conversation, according to a statement released by Japan’s foreign ministry.

Outlining Tokyo’s priorities, the Japanese minister “also requested cooperation for the resumption of activities by Japanese companies in India,” the statement said.

There are about 1,400 Japanese firms in India, The Wire reported.

Jaishankar tweeted that the discussion with his Japanese counterpart “also dwelled on economic recovery challenges including supply chain resilience.”

Glad to converse with FM @moteging of #Japan today. Discussed return of our nationals in the #CoronaVirus situation. Also dwelled on economic recovery challenges including supply chain resilience. Our #IndoPacific partnership will be even more important in the coming days.

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 7, 2020

The Indian government announced a nationwide lockdown from March 25 to curb the spread of novel coronavirus outbreak. Consequently, economic activity has come to standstill, especially in non-essential sectors.

Some relaxations have been granted in the ongoing third phase of lockdown, but manufacturing units are facing a gigantic challenge to reopen.

Japan is involved in the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail project, as well as development of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with 12 industrial townships and Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).