Japan will import Maruti Suzuki cars from India: Modi

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front, 3rd left) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi perform a religious ritual during evening prayers on the banks of the river Ganges in Varanasi, India on December 12, 2015.

“This enterprise will launch a revolution in Indian railways and speed up India’s journey into the future”, Modi said of the deal, adding that Tokyo would also extend a US$12 billion (RM51.7 billion) package of financing and assistance for the train.

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”.

Civic groups and atomic bomb survivors on Saturday criticized the Japanese government for agreeing with India to work toward sealing a civil nuclear cooperation pact, fearing the move might lead India to divert the technology to weapons production.

A survey conducted two years back by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the island nation’s ministry for economy, trade & industry showed some 75 per cent of Japanese businessmen placing India as “the most promising country” ahead of China, Brazil, Vietnam and the US.

According to a senior Japanese official, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe complimented his counterpart Narendra Modi on accomplishing the deal during their discussions saying “no other leader could have done this”.

Without making a direct reference to the concerns among some countries about China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, Modi also said India stood strongly for ensuring freedom of navigation and over-flight, and unimpeded maritime commerce. “The partnership between India and Japan has infinite potential”. Japan lifted a ban on defense equipment export in 2014.

On his part, Abe said, “We have taken relationship to new level and buds have turned into blossoms”. Talking of robust manufacturing growth and industrial production, PM Modi said that India is a land of possibilities with excellent human resources & a technological base and Japan has been there at every turning point. “It will become an engine of economic transformation in India”, he said. He pointed out that there were serious challenges emerging between China and Japan.

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.

“For the first time Japan will import cars from India and Maruti will manufacture it”, he said while addressing the India-Japan Business Leaders Forum here. They called for security cooperation between Japan, India, the USA and Australia, reflecting a strategy already agreed by the US and Japan, which is aimed at checking China’s ambitions in the South China Sea.

Apparently, the Indian side gave assurances to Japan’s strong non-proliferation lobby to expedite the deal, the Japanese preferred to play safe and sought time for Prime Minister Abe to convince the Japanese parliament on the assurances.

In terms of security cooperation, Abe and Modi agreed the Maritime Self-Defense Force will regularly hold joint maritime exercises, which are now jointly conducted by India and the United States.

The two Prime Ministers underlined their determination to expand cooperation with other partners, to enhance connectivity in the Indo-Pacific region.