India, Japan ink 3 agreements for railway cooperation

Abe, who was dressed in a traditional Nehru jacket, took part in the holy rituals along with Prime Minister Modi amid chants of holy mantras, flanked by priests.

The two leaders spent about 45 minutes at the Ghat in Modi’s parliamentary constituency where they watched the Ganga Aarti, an exquisitely choreographed ritual performed daily on the banks of the river.

On Saturday, India and Japan signed a number of agreements included one on civil nuclear energy cooperation, India’s first bullet train and transfer of defence equipment and technology.

The memorandum of understanding signed on civil nuclear energy is also seen as a vote of confidence by Tokyo in New Delhi, but officials said the final agreement will only be signed after technical 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”.

Japan will set up a new financial facility worth 1.5 trillion yen ($12 billion) under the “Make in India” initiative to promote direct investment of Japanese companies and trade from Japan to India, it was announced on Saturday.

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

China was in talks with India to jointly build a 1,754km track from New Delhi to Chennai that could cost 200 billion yuan (US$29.78 billion), the China Daily reported in November a year ago.

The dignitaries of Varanasi also presented gifts made by local artists to Mr Abe and Mr Modi during the banquet.

Highlighting the technological prowess of Japan, CII past president Ajay Sriram said there is a lot to learn and there is a high mutual access between both the countries which will be beneficial for investment in India.

It said that the defence agreements signed further strengthens the foundation of “deep strategic ties”.

The Prime Minister mentioned recent economic indicators in both India and Japan, and said these were extremely encouraging, especially in the light of the global economic slowdown. “Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed his determination to improve the business environment in India”, it said. “They called for an immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) on the basis of Shannon Mandate”, said the joint statement.

“They also supported the strengthening of worldwide cooperation to address the challenges of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism”, it said.

The two Prime Ministers expressed concern over North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, including its uranium enrichment activities.

A nuclear deal with Japan – the only country that experienced the devastation by atomic bombs – is also important for India, as it would be yet another sign of global acknowledgement of the impeccable non-proliferation record of India.

Since India was not willing to give a new assurance to Japan, the compromise seems to be go back to Delhi’s “commitment and actions” in 2008, which led Nuclear Suppliers Group to give a waiver to the South Asian giant.