New Delhi, July 3 -- India and Japan have agreed to leverage India's industrial base to establish a major manufacturing, trade, and investment hub aimed at driving sustainable economic development across Africa.

According to the joint statement released by the two Prime Ministers, the collaborative push is outlined under the newly formulated Strategic Outlook for Expanding Japan-India Cooperation in Africa.

The initiative seeks to build a powerful synergy between existing frameworks, including the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) mechanism, Japan's Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), and the Economic Region Initiative of the Indian Ocean-Africa.

By concentrating industrial activities in India, the two nations...