The agreement, featuring broad shapes of cooperation in the nuclear field, was signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abeheld the ninth yearly Indo-Japan top talks in New Delhi. Shinkansen Technology will be adopted for the MumbaiAhmedabad High SpeedIt will become an engine of economic transformation in India.
Advertisement
India and Japan today signed two key agreements which will pave the way for sale of Japanese defence equipment to India, including the much sought USA 2 amphibian aircraft, as both countries vowed deeper military cooperation especially in the maritime sphere. It is a shining symbol of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of a peaceful and secure world, Modi said.
Both sides also reached an agreement on developing India’s first high-speed bullet train network on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. Tokyo will provide a US$12 billion (S$17 billion) package of soft loans and assistance for the rail link, which will slash the travel time from about eight hours to two. The approx. cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 98,000 crore.
Further deals between the two countries were agreed, meaning they will cooperate on defence by sharing technology, equipment and military information. It said the defence pacts strengthen the foundation of “deep strategic ties”. He declared that Japan would build a convention centre in Varanasi.
Modi also thanked Abe for the “Japan-India Make-in-India Special Finance Facility” of up to 1.5 trillion yen ($12 billion approximately) to promote investments from the Asian giant, mainly in infrastructure that need long gestation funding. “We believe that disputes must be resolved peacefully and that all countries must abide by worldwide law and norms on maritime issues”, he said. Abe and Modi called for freedom of navigation in global waters.
Modi said the two agreements will deepen growing defense relations. “Our remarkable relationship also has a wonderful human touch. Your visit, Mr. Prime Minister, is one”, Modi added. “No friend will matter more in realising India’s economic dreams than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe”.
Japan is apparently looking for additional nonproliferation guarantees before it exports nuclear reactors to New Delhi, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
“They affirmed the importance of bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks including those of November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai to justice”, said the joint statement. To welcome the two leaders, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Governor Ram Naik were also present at Babatpur Airport, from where they left for Taj Hotel in the city.
A nuclear deal with Japan – the only country that experienced the devastation by atomic bombs – is also important for India, as it would be yet another sign of global acknowledgement of the impeccable non-proliferation record of India.
“Prime Minister Modi’s economic policies are like Shinkansen – high speed, safe and reliable while carrying many people along”, the Japanese premier said in a reference to the Japanese bullet train.
Almost 200 nations agreed on the legally binding Paris Agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations where leaders, ministers and other officials wrangled over thorny issues that often divided developed and developing countries.
Advertisement
In all, Japan has invested some $19.6 billion in foreign direct investment in India between April 2000 and September 2015.
