India to get Japan’s bullet train, deepens defense and nuclear ties

The two countries on Saturday sealed their warming ties with a deal for Tokyo to build India’s first high-speed train, defense pacts that will clear the way for Japan to sell weapons to India, and progress on a civil nuclear agreement.

Modi also said that both India and Japan also reached an agreement on the construction of a 500-kilometre railway linking the western Indian cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

India and Japan on Saturday signed a $15 billion high-speed rail agreement and a raft of other accords to strengthen ties, as countries across Asia seek to counterbalance China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

The Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to India, as part of the agreement that the two Prime Ministers meet every year, has been exceptional in taking the template of relationship well forward.

Similarly, while they agreed to work towards cooperation in civil-nuclear technology, they stopped short of signing an agreement, citing outstanding technical and legal differences. “It will become an engine of economic transformation”.

Starting the day with a meeting with business leaders, the warmth between the two “friends” was visible when Modi and Abe used the Bullet Train (Shinkansen in Japan) as an analogy to praise each other.

The signing of the memoranda follows a visit to Japan which Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu made in September, when he held discussions with ministers as well as financial institutions which could potentially invest in India’s rail sector.

“The two Prime Ministers expressed their intention to explore potential future projects on defence equipment and technology cooperation such as US-2 amphibian aircraft”, the statement said.

The “difficult issues” in negotiations included Japan’s insistence to add a clause in the agreement providing for termination of the cooperation in the event of a nuclear test by India.

In a first such move, Japan will import cars from India that will be manufactured by the Japanese-controlled Maruti Suzuki, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.

The country had recently lifted a ban on military exports that had been maintained for almost 50 years.

Besides, even U.S. companies, which partnered with Japanese firms (like GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse), need a deal between Tokyo and New Delhi in place to be able to sell India nuclear technologies and equipment with components originated in Japan.

“We stand strongly for ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded maritime commerce”, he said.

A survey conducted two years back by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the island nation’s ministry for economy, trade & industry showed some 75 per cent of Japanese businessmen placing India as “the most promising country” ahead of China, Brazil, Vietnam and the US.

A joint statement pointed to cooperation between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific, which experts see as sending a message to China.