Japan to help build India’s first bullet train

The two Prime Ministers noted that India’s railways modernisation and expansion plans open up commercial opportunities for Japanese companies in high speed rail, station re-development and rolling stock manufacturing.

Tokyo’s decision to enter into nuke talks with New Delhi sparked off strong reactions from the anti-nuclear activists in Japan, as India did not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Reflecting the importance of the nuclear pact, Modi said it was more than just an agreement and that it was a “shining symbol” of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership between the two countries towards the cause of a peaceful and secure world.

Highlighting the improvement in economic indicators in both India and Japan, he said these were extremely encouraging, especially in the light of the global economic slowdown.

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.

India’s dream of high-speed trains zipping along the country will be fulfilled.

Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an announcement in this regard after his meeting with Prime Minister Modi. “Recognising the special relationship”, Modi announced visa-on-arrival for Japanese citizens from March 1, 2016. Referring to the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “No less historic is the decision to introduce high-speed rail on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector through Shinkansen known for speed, reliability and safety”. Japan committed another $12 billion for “Make in India” initiative after inking far-reaching pacts on defence and nuclear energy. However, Bhargava added that exporting automobiles to Japan is not an easy task.

The two sides also inked agreements – one concerning the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and another related to Security Measures for Protection of Classified Military Information.

Reacting sharply to India’s move of including Japan in the Indo-US Malabar naval exercises, China today said it is hopeful Tokyo will not “provoke confrontation” and “heighten tensions” in the region.

Top officials said the nuclear agreement still needed “legal scrubbing” and finalisation of technical details, while Mr Abe will need to get parliamentary approval and navigate tough domestic laws.

As for nuclear fuel tracking, the foreign secretary said that India has addressed this issue not only with Japan but with a number of other countries as well, including the US, Australia and Canada.

“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.

Analysts see the growing ties between India and Japan partly as a bid to contain China, with whom both have territorial disputes.