The PMs of India and Japan on Tuesday discussed the Myanmar situation besides situation in East and South China Sea, China’s Coast Guard Law and the situation in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

During a a summit telephone talk with PM Narendra Modi, the Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga shared the recognition that cooperation towards realizing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific is becoming increasingly important and to this end, shared the view to steadily advance both Japan-India bilateral cooperation and Japan-Australia-India-U.S. quadrilateral cooperation, according to a statement by the Japanese government.

The two leaders exchanged views on Japan-India relations and concurred that they would continue their effort to materialize the “Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership” through cooperation in such areas as security and defence, economic relationship including digital fields and people-to-people exchanges, according to the statement.

The two PMs also welcomed the progress on the high-speed rail project and the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on specified skilled workers, the statement added.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the regional situation. In this context, Suga expressed serious concerns regarding unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Sea, China’s Coast Guard Law and the situation in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), according to the statement.

Suga also asked for understanding and cooperation toward the early resolution of the abductions issue by North Korea. Furthermore, the two leaders confirmed that they have grave concerns over the situation in Myanmar and they would closely work together in this vein, the statement added. Like India, Japan too has big stakes in Myanmar.