Japan and India have pledged to deepen economic and trade ties as part of a wide ranging “global partnership” agreement signed yesterday by Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, and Manmohan Singh, his Indian counterpart.

The agreement outlined eight areas of co-operation including “exploration of an India-Japan economic partnership agreement”, an oil and natural gas “dialogue”, and a pledge to support each other's candidacy for an enlarged United Nations Security Council.