India, Japan ink agreements on nuke cooperation, high speed train, defence

The Modi-Abe comfort level and the overall ambience of trust is reflected in Japan and India also signing an MoU on the civil nuclear deal, justifying Mr Modi’s description of it as more than just an agreement for commerce and clean energy.

“It will become an engine of economic transformation in India”.

India and Japan have in the past decade tentatively mooted the possibility of greater maritime cooperation, but this remained a stunted initiative given Tokyo’s reticence to assertively move forward and there was a near mirror image in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a banquet for his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe after the two leaders performed “Ganga Aarti” on the banks of river Ganges here on Saturday. 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.

Prime Minister Abe (left) and his host Narendra Modi share a moment at the signing ceremony at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. “It is a symbol of a new level of mutual trust and strategic partnership”, he stated at a press briefing in the follow-up to the meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The latter agreement is expected to allow Japan to export nuclear plant technologies to India.

A joint statement issued after the two leaders met said the agreement will be signed after more details are finalized.

“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.

For his part, the visiting Japanese PM said: “A strong India is good for Japan and a strong Japan is good for India”. Beijing “always believes that under the premise of honoring global nuclear non-proliferation obligations, all countries are entitled to make peaceful use of nuclear energy and conduct relevant worldwide cooperation in a way that uphold the authority and effectiveness of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime”.

Under the defence deal, Japan will transfer defence equipment and technology to India and take part in the India-US Malabar exercises on a regular basis, apart from helping India in dealing with maritime problems in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will also make it easier for US-based nuclear plant makers Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc to set up atomic plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments.

A final deal with Japan would also benefit USA firms. China has been opposed to India, Japan and the U.S., which are outside the South China Sea region, voicing their opinion about the island dispute.

Modi also said India would extend visas on arrival to Japanese citizens from next year. “Japan will continuously offer cooperation for the development of India with the government and private sector working together”.

Tokyo will provide India with a $12 billion package of financing and assistance for the train, including a low-priced, long-term loan.

Jaishankar said Japanese side was conveyed about the various aspects of India’s nuclear liability regime.