India selects Japan for its first $15bn bullet train project

Ushering in a new dawn of relationship, India and Japan today signed high profile agreements, including a historic document on civil nuclear cooperation, an agreement for the high speed train project and creation of a stand alone “India-Japan Make-in-India Fund” of United States dollars 12 billion.

The proposed 505km railway would link Mumbai with Ahmedabad, a major economic and industrial hub in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

The most eye-catching deal was the new bullet train which will slash journey times between the Indian cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, reportedly from eight hours to about two hours.

“All countries have the right to make their own decisions about who they want to cooperate with”, she told reporters in Beijing, adding that China expected to cooperate on other railway projects with India in the future.

The Indian PM further said that the wide ranging collaboration between India and Japan, especially in clean energy and energy efficiency technology, would create solutions for the world at large. Under the defence deals, the two sides will share technology, equipment and military information, but the long-awaited sale of Japanese aircraft in a deal worth about $1.1 billion could not be concluded.

After the Modi-Abe talks, the two countries signed a broad-based MoU for cooperation in civil nuclear energy with the final pact to be signed after certain technical and legal issues are thrashed out. “It is shining symbol of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of a peaceful and secure world”, Modi said.

Apparently, the Indian side gave assurances to Japan’s strong non-proliferation lobby to expedite the deal, but the Japanese preferred to play safe and sought time necessary for Prime Minister Abe to convince the Japanese parliament on the assurances given by India. “They pledged to work for peace, security and development of the Indo-Pacific region”, said the statement.

India will be buying a Japanese high-speed train system, effectively with an export credit of $12 billion.

An agreement was signed to this effect by prime ministers of the two countries, Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi, during the former’s recent visit to India.

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

“Japan also has agreed to implement the concept of Japan industrial townships in India”, Jaishankar said.

The two countries’ growing closeness is also seen to be driven by common concerns over the rise of China, particularly with Beijing flexing its muscles in territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea.

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

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe at the signing ceremony, in New Delhi on December 12, 2015.

“I expect India will act responsibly and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes”, Abe said during a press conference.

“The two prime ministers, on the occasion of the 70th year since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, reaffirmed their shared commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons”.