Bullet trains apart, India needs high-speed growth: Narendra Modi

Terming defence pacts as “decisive steps in our security cooperation”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they will deepen the defence relations and promote defence manufacturing in India.

“No friend will matter more in realizing India’s economic dreams than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe”, Modi said.

Mr. Narendra Modi said that “Make in India” is proceeding in mission mode, not just in India, but also in Japan.

NEW DELHI, DEC 12: As both countries “in principle” agreed for cooperation in civil nuclear energy, Japan today cautioned India that it will be “quite natural” for it to review its cooperation if New Delhi goes for a nuclear test. Analysts say despite a 15 percent annual rate of increase in two-way trade, India accounts for only 1.2 percent of Japan’s total trade, and Japan for 2 percent of India’s.

Japanese atomic power companies like Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi have been eying the huge nuclear market opened up for the world by the Nuclear Suppliers Group’s 2008 waiver for India.

Mr. Yasuhisha told The Hindu that defence ties with India are now “fundamentally important” to Japan and that India’s flagship “Make in India” programme also will benefit from defence co-production plans.

The joint statement said the two Prime Ministers view that imperatives of a stronger bilateral strategic partnership require deep and broad-based cooperation and concrete actions in Defence, security.

Another pact signed by the two leaders concerns the transfer of defense equipment and technology cooperation.

When asked about the target, Bhargava said “we expect to export 20,000 to 30,000 in a year”.

Abe is now on a three-day visit to India. On India-Japan agreement on Bullet train, Hong said China too is ready to speed up its cooperation with India on high-speed railways.

Abe, who met Modi over lunch at Kuala Lumpur, had said that India-Japan relationship has the greatest potential of any bilateral relationship in the world.

The deal to build a high-speed train line between the financial hub of Mumbai and the city of Ahmedabad in Modi’s home state of Gujarat gives Japan an early lead over China, which is conducting feasibility studies for high speed trains on other parts of India’s dilapidated rail network. “Your visit, Mr. Prime Minister, is one”, Modi added.

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.

On nuclear deal, he said, “We have reached an agreement on nuclear deal for peaceful use of nuclear energy”.