India and Japan in $75bn currency swap pact

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe, concluded a $75-billion bilateral currency swap agreement, a move intended to bring greater stability to the rupee and capital markets in India.

With greater strategic convergence coming into sharp relief, the two countries also agreed to start a “2+2” dialogue at the foreign and defence ministers’ level as well as work together on infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, giving substance to Indo-Pacific policies.

The swap agreement, a finance ministry release said, “will enable the agreed amount of foreign capital being available to India for use as and when need arises”. In 2013, India and Japan worked out another swap agreement, increasing it from $15 billion to $50 billion, when the rupee had been under stress.