<span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with Prime Minister of Japan Suga Yoshihide over phone.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">During the interaction, both the leaders discussed progress in various ongoing bilateral initiatives.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The two leaders discussed the Covid-19 situation and exchanged views on various regional and global challenges posed by the pandemic.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">They appreciated the support and facilitation provided to resident citizens in each other's country during the pandemic and agreed to continue such coordination.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Suga for providing assistance to India for combating the pandemic.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Both the leaders highlighted the importance of close India-Japan cooperation to overcome these challenges.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">They stressed on working together to create resilient, diversified and trustworthy supply chains, ensuring reliable supply of critical materials and technologies and developing new partnerships in manufacturing and skill development.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The two leaders emphasized on the need of early operationalization of specified skilled workers agreement in order to synergize their strengths and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">They also highlighted the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project as a shining example of their cooperation and welcomed the steady progress in its execution.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Modi also expressed hope that he would be able to receive Prime Minister Suga in India at the earliest in the near future once the Covid-19 situation stabilizes.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />''  <br />