Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi shares a moment during a signing of agreement at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 12.
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Modi had last week announced that India will extend “visa on arrival” to all Japanese citizens from March 1, 2016.
However, Japan asserted that it does not see India moving in that direction. Japan’s trade with India is about 5 percent of its commerce with China, and less than a quarter of India-China trade.
While China had in October played down Japan’s presence in the naval drills saying Beijing was “not that fragile” and had “sound relations” with both India and the USA, the Chinese Foreign Ministry struck a different tone on Monday, warning “relevant countries” to not “provoke confrontation”. “They are very nationalistic, center-right prime ministers who have a certain idea about the rise of China and about its implications for both these states”. “India reminded Japan of the voluntary moratorium it has put in place and most countries accept India’s word as credible”, he added. “Excellency, in a world of intense, global engagements, few visits are truly historic or change the course of a relationship”.
Abe said Japan’s public and private sectors will act in unison with a view to supporting economic growth in India. The train service would link the Indian financial hub of Mumbai with Ahmadabad, the commercial capital of Modi’s home state, Gujarat, cutting the travel time on the 505-kilometer (315-mile) route from eight hours to two.
Jaishankar told reporters in Delhi that the pact for nuclear energy could aid the participation of companies like General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co., which have Japanese partners, in India.
“If India does a test and recedes from its commitment, it will be quite natural for Japan to review its cooperation with India”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes the visit this weekend by Japan’s premier, Shinzo Abe, will be a major step in transforming India into an economic powerhouse with Japan’s help in building bullet trains, “smart cities” and accessing nuclear technology.
China was in talks with India to jointly build a 1,754km track from New Delhi to Chennai that could cost 200 billion yuan (US$29.78 billion), the China Daily reported in November a year ago. There was political resistance in Japan to go on with a nuclear pact with India, particularly after the catastrophe at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.
The two Prime Ministers also reaffirmed their desire to further develop dialogue and exchanges between the two countries in the security and defence fields, including through the full utilisation of “2+2 Dialogue”, Defence Policy Dialogue, Military-to-Military Talks and Coast Guard to Coast Guard cooperation.
Kawamura said this agreement will guarantee India will take responsible actions for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Talks between India and Japan on procuring the amphibious planes had been on for the last two years.
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The close personal ties between the two leaders are helping bring the countries closer.
