Japan to build $15b bullet train for India

“We take this as a sign of confidence in “Make in India” programme and the Indian economy”, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said in a media briefing later. Components to be manufactured in India include rolling stock, equipment and machinery. Modi said he knew the significance of the civil nuclear agreement for Japan and assured that India will honour its shared commitments.

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

Ahead of the announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying was asked if China might lose because its loans were too costly.

To support the “Make in India” initiative, Japan has created a fund of about $12 billion which will be provided to Japanese companies for manufacturing in India.

Both China and South Korea – victims of Japanese aggression during World War II – have accused Abe of trying to revive nationalistic rhetoric and deny Tokyo’s war crimes against their people.

China, especially over the past five years, has watched with growing alarm what it fears are attempts by its rivals to strategically encircle it – through a partnership between the US, India, Japan, Australia and, possibly, smaller nations like Singapore and Vietnam.

“About 400 billion yen is committed this financial year and 200 billion yen carries over to the coming year”, Jaishankar stated.

Later on Saturday, the pair arrived in India’s holiest city of Varanasi, which is also the premier’s parliamentary constituency, adding a note of cultural exchange after Modi visited Japan’s historic city of Kyoto a year ago.

In terms of liabilities, he said that the Japanese side was assured of the efficacy of the liability solutions that India had found earlier in the year. Japan has also pledged $5 billion as part of its overseas development assistance to India.

Tokyo will provide India with a $12 billion package of financing and assistance for the train, including a low-priced, long-term loan.

“I strongly urge (the Japanese government) to fulfill its responsibility as a country subjected to nuclear weapons”, he said. “It will need legal scrubbing and other technical details will have to be finalised”.

“The key part has been done”, Mr Jaishankar said. It is well-known that nuclear power plants pose enormous dangers at every step – from Uranium extraction to radioactive waste -they are a tremendous risk to the environment and to all living creatures in their vicinity. Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has been demanding additional non-proliferation guarantees from India before it exports nuclear reactors.

For India and Japan, a psychological Rubicon has been crossed with the finalisation of the “substantive” portion of the civil nuclear deal, which will now allow third country firms with Japanese partnership to enter the Indian N-market. “No friend will matter more in realising India’s economic dreams than Japan…”

Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi attend the evening “Aarti” ritual on the banks of the River Ganges. China has been building facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea, where it claims sovereignty.

The two leaders also issued a joint statement on ‘India and Japan Vision 2025: Special Strategic and Global Partnership Working Together for Peace and Prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region and the World.

Japan will also be made a partner in the Malabar Exercise, a naval drill conducted annually by the United States and India, to help counter “maritime challenges” in the region, the leaders said.

Modi briefed the Japanese Prime Minister on his agenda of reforms to make India the investment destination with the most business-friendly environment.

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