Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her Japanese counterpart Satsuki Katayama on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Bangkok, discussing investment in India, clean energy, infrastructure, pensions and digital payments.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama in Bangkok on October 15 to review bilateral economic ties and explore ways to deepen financial cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings, where the two ministers reviewed progress under the India-Japan Strategic Global Partnership.
Sitharaman welcomed Japan’s commitment to facilitate 10 trillion Japanese yen in private investment into India over the next decade. The investment target was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan in August 2025.
The finance minister also handed over a written invitation for Japanese representatives to visit India in 2027 to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations through high-level engagements.
Focus on clean energy, infrastructure
Sitharaman highlighted that a substantial portion of the India-Japan Fund’s corpus had been deployed in clean energy, electric mobility, critical minerals and resilient supply chains.
She also welcomed the Development Bank of Japan’s commitment to the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s private market fund, noting opportunities for further co-investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.
The finance minister invited Japanese institutions to participate in India’s expanding long-term savings pool through green infrastructure and environmental, social and governance (ESG)-linked pension products. She also sought Japan’s expertise in pension sustainability, annuity design and long-term care financing.
India, Japan explore fintech and UPI cooperation
The two ministers discussed cooperation between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Japan, including a formal financial technology cooperation framework, central bank digital currency use cases and the sharing of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) experience.
The discussions also covered Japan’s plans to modernise its Zengin interbank payment system in 2027, cybersecurity cooperation and the role of artificial intelligence in financial services.
Sitharaman further invited Japanese banks, insurers, reinsurers, asset managers and universities to establish operations at GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre.
Both sides noted the potential to deepen economic and financial cooperation across investment, infrastructure, digital finance and emerging technologies.