Modi, Abe reach Varanasi, worship Ganges

This aims at promoting direct investment from Japan to India and to support their business activities with counterparts in India, including development of necessary infrastructure, and to help materialise “Make-in-India”, it said.

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 countries also agreed to cooperate on peaceful use of nuclear energy, the final deal for which will be signed after the technical details are confirmed, the Associated Press reported.

A deal, which involves the export of Japanese nuclear power plant technology, is controversial because India, a nuclear-weapon nation that conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, has not joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Modi called the agreement a “shining symbol” of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of a peaceful and secure world.

He also noted that Abe’s extraordinary package of approximately Dollars 12 billion and technical assistance on very easy terms for this project was greatly appreciated. The mega project of Bullet train network is supposed to begin in 2017, with completion slated for 2023.

The new bullet train will slash journey times between the Indian cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, reportedly from eight hours to about two hours.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that they have reached substantive agreement on the Indo-Japan nuclear deal, and only legal scrubbing was to be taken into consideration and rest of the agreement was done.

Abe and Modi also came to an agreement over a memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear energy cooperation. Without referring to China, both sides underscored the challenges India and Japan face in South China Sea, which caters to most of their oil imports and other supplies.

The two leaders are expected to leave later Saturday for India’s holiest city of Varanasi and the premier’s parliamentary constituency. In a joint statement, Abe and Modi said that New Delhi and Tokyo chose to work together for the economic development of the two countries. This will feed into the $35 billion that Japan had announced past year at the annual summit as ODA for Japanese public and private investments in India. At least 13 such townships are under consideration.

An MoU on cooperation in maintenance and security in train operations was also signed by both sides.

India’s NITI Aayog and Institute of Energy Economics, Japan will collaborate to analyse issues related to the energy sector.

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

PM Shinzo Abe and PM Modi take a selfie as they attend the aarti. “It will become an engine of economic transformation in India”, Modi added.

Similarly, the much-anticipated sale of 12 Japanese US-2i Amphibious aircraft – worth $1.3 billion – to India was not concluded as the bilateral working group continues to discuss technology transfer and licensed production, an issue that has been lingering for two years.

Some of these also carry messages in the Japanese script.