Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the Group of Seven summit in May and announced action plans for a new Indo-Pacific initiative after their bilateral meeting. 

Kishida laid out plans for billions of U.S. dollars in investments in infrastructure and other sectors across the region. "India is an indispensable partner" in developing a free and open Indo-Pacific, he added.

The free and open Indo-Pacific initiative would direct public and private capital worth $75 billion towards Indo-Pacific infrastructure by 2030, Kishida said. 

The new Indo-Pacific initiative fits with Japan's new national security strategy adopted in December under which Japan is deploying long-range cruise missiles to strengthen its strike-back capability, and using development aid more strategically in support of like-minded countries.

Kishida added that Japan will also strengthen coordination with the U.S., Australia, UK, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.

India, which is heading this year's Group of 20 industrial and emerging-market nations, said ties with Japan are key to stability in the region.

The two nations, along with the United States and Australia, make up the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad.

Kishida also held talks with Modi to deepen bilateral cooperation while also addressing food security and development financing.

The two leaders said they will closely cooperate in dealing with a wide range of global challenges, including soaring prices of energy and food supplies that have exacerbated since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in last February.

India and Japan share strong economic ties. Trade between the two was worth $20.57 billion in fiscal year 2021-2022.

The Japanese investments in India touched $32 billion between 2000 and 2019. Japan has also been supporting infrastructure development in India, including a high-speed rail project.

(With input from agencies)