Japanese PM arrives in India amidst state honours, colourful welcome

News Network
September 13, 2017

Ahmedabad, Sept 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for a two-day State visit to India in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Abe flew in directly from Tokyo to Ahmedabad, perhaps one of the few heads of state to directly land in a country other than National Capital New Delhi. After official function at the airport and Guard of Honour by three wings of defence forces, Abe and his wife Aki Abe were greeted to the cultural fiesta and welcomed traditionally by Buddhist monks.

Before landing in India, Abe in his message called India to be “tremendously special” to Japan. “Today, I will begin my visit to India for the fourth time as Japan’s Prime Minister and visit Prime Minister Modi’s home state of Gujarat. There I will hold my 10th Japan-India summit meeting with Prime Minister Modi, and I am looking forward to further advancing the ‘new era in Japan-India relations.” Saying that Modi was a “powerful leader with an outstanding ability to get things done”, Prime Minister Abe dubbed India and Japan as “major Asian democracies and global powers.”

Before setting out for Sabarmati Ashram on a 8-km long cultural roadshow, Japanese Prime Minister was seen donning Modi Kurta and Koti, while his wife Aki Abe changing into traditional Indian attire. Climbing atop an open jeep, PM Modi, PM Abe and his wife Aki Abe, moved on to Sabarmati Ashram where they were welcomed by as many as 28 troupes en route showcasing cultural highlights of various states of India, including Gujarat, Kerala, and Odisha. Locals had also gathered in large numbers with flags of India and Japan along the decked up roads to welcome both the Prime Ministers.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

indiapak.jpg

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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