The two countries on Saturday sealed their warming ties with a deal for Tokyo to build India’s first high-speed train, defense pacts that will clear the way for Japan to sell weapons to India, and progress on a civil nuclear agreement.
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Addressing a joint press meet with Abe, Modi said, “No friend will matter more in realising India’s economic dreams than Japan” while describing Abe as “a personal friend and a great champion of India-Japan partnership”.
The two countries announced they had agreed a plan to build the 500-kilometer high-speed corridor, a significant upgrade to India’s outdated and slow railway system. “It tells you the seriousness with which Japan looks at its economic prospects in India”, he said.
The statement followed signing of agreements on cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, high speed rail and transfer of defence equipment and technology cooperation.
The deal would be clinched after finalising technical details and completing internal procedures in both nations.
The civilian nuclear deal between India and Japan which has been under negotiation since 2010 finally might move beyond the “nullification clause” which had been the major condition that Japan refused to compromise on in the previous rounds of negotiations.
With Japan’s promise of fund of 98,000 crore for the Bullet train project, India is now ahead of Indonesia as Japan’s largest borrower.
“We also appreciate the sharp increase in Japanese bilateral assistance and the strength of public and private Japanese commitment for the Make in India mission”, he said.
However, a report in “Japan Times” quoted the Japanese government’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda telling journalists in New Delhi that bilateral nuclear cooperation would stop if India conducted a nuclear test.
The deal was formalised during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s three-day state visit to India, which took place over the weekend.
“If by any chance India engages in activity resembling nuclear tests, we will suspend cooperative efforts”, he said.
“I cannot think of a strategic partnership that can exercise a more profound influence on shaping the course of Asia and our interlinked ocean regions more than ours”, the Indian prime minister said after the talks.
“Modi and Abe are telegraphing a striking message: We’re taking this relationship to the next level, even at the risk of roiling China”, said Michael Kugelman, senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
Also, Japan will import cars manufactured in India for the first time as part of the project. “All countries have the right to make peaceful use of nuclear energy and carry out relevant co-operation”.
A MOU on technical co-operation between India’s Research Designs & Standards Organisation and Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute covers areas including safety, maintenance, sustainability and capacity enhancement.
These developments underscore the changing regional configuration in the Indo-Pacific on account of China’s aggressive foreign policy posture as well as a new seriousness in India’s own China policy.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laughed after signing an agreement at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday.
