BJP credits Japan PM’s visit to Modi

Charting a new course, India and Japan on Saturday announced a series of military and strategic agreements and understandings. Technical and legal details still need to be worked out, and a final agreement will also have to be approved by the Diet.

Japan and India vowed to deepen their economic and security relations in an agreement that commits the countries to bilateral nuclear co-operation and the construction of a high-speed railway system during summit talks Saturday, according to a joint statement.

“No friend will matter more in realizing India’s economic dreams than Japan”, said Modi, leader of the right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. These are the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Ahmedabad metro project, modernisation of ship recycling yards in Gujarat, the Mumbai trans-harbour link, a peripheral ring road around Bengaluru, the Chennai metro project, the Tuticorin outer harbour project, the Odisha transmission improvement project, the Odisha sanitation project, the Madhya Pradesh transmission project, Ganga rejuvenation, horticulture and irrigation in Jharkhand, and road connectivity projects in the northeast.

Recalling his last visit to the country, Modi said Japan committed an investment of $35 billion.

In Defence sector, two agreements concerning the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and another related to Security Measures for Protection of Classified Military Information.

“We have been trying for a very long period of time, especially the nuclear agreement with Japan”.

Japan also will become a regular member of the India-U.S. Malabar naval exercises, which will “help create stronger capabilities to deal with maritime challenges in the Indo-Pacific region”, the joint statement said.

That shift away from China has benefited countries such as India and Vietnam, where the Japanese have started investing.

The high-speed railway project will use technology developed to build Japan’s extensive Shinkansen network-on which trains run at more than 300 kilometers an hour-and will be a welcome update to India’s vast but often inefficient and overburdened railway network, which acts as a break on the country’s economic growth.

India and Japan have been holding talks for two years on the purchase by India of US-2 amphibious aircraft made by ShinMaywa Industries, which would be one of Japan’s first arms sales since Abe lifted a 50-year ban on weapon exports. The Japanese PM, accompanied by Modi, not only meticulously followed the rituals – Ganga pujan, aachman and sankalp, as described by priests, he also photographed from his personal cellphone the festivities and the Ganga aarti.

Modi said the nuclear pact with Japan, a major player in the nuclear energy market, 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.

On South China Sea, Modi and Abe were of the view that full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and early conclusion of the negotiations to establish a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea by consensus will contribute to peace and stability of the region. Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava said the company will begin with export of “Baleno” from January.