Modi-Abe Day 2 meet: Bullet train, defence deal to fast-track India, Japan ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will lay the foundation stone of the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmadabad High Speed Rail in Ahmedabad on Thursday, and sign several agreements on strategic, financial and development cooperation.

This is the fourth summit meeting between Modi and Abe. The two leaders visited the Sabarmati Ashram on Wednesday after Abe’s arrival in Gujarat in the afternoon.

Here are six things you need to know about the visit:

1) Bullet train

India’s ambitious High Speed Rail (HSR) project is now at the take-off stage, coinciding with the visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will lay the foundation stone of the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmadabad High Speed Rail in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The cost of the project is Rs 1,10,000-crore. Once complete (scheduled in December 2023) the train which will have a top speed of 350 km per hour will reduce travel time between the two cities to around 2 hours from the existing 7 hours. The project is mostly on Japanese soft loan. But Japanese would also be happy as their high technology is under stiff competition from China and South Korea, who are trying to build similar rail corridors across the world

2) Expanding development cooperation

An ambitious agenda is on the cards at the summit, with Japan expressing its willingness to scale up its partnership in key flagship projects such as Make in India, Skill India and the Clean Ganga Mission. Most of it would be in continuation of the developmental-cooperation trajectory the two leaders had arrived at in 2015. India would benefit from Japanese technology on various sectors and now focus is on expanding the Japanese aid to India in areas such environment protection, sewage building, forest protection. Japanese are also keen on expanding the development cooperation to the north eastern parts of India

3) International cooperation/third country projects

Both the sides will also strive to enhance their international cooperation in Asian and African countries, with a sharp focus on infrastructural projects. This development comes in the wake of China aggressively pushing ahead with its one-road-one-belt connectivity project, which was boycotted by India but endorsed by its South-Asian neighbours like Sri Lanka and Nepal. “While Indian companies enjoy a large presence in Africa, Japanese companies possess advanced technologies. If we come together there, it could be a win-win situation for both countries,” Kenji Hiramatsu, the Japanese ambassador to India, told Hindustan Times in a recent interview.

Incidentally, the fact that the African Union has 54 members – one-third of the United Nations’ total membership – can even help India and Japan achieve their dream of becoming permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. China is already expanding its economic and strategic influence in the resource-rich continent. Its new military base in Djibouti — the first in the region — has raised global concerns over the Xi Jinping government’s strategic intentions for Africa.

4) Expanding strategic and military cooperation

Japan has remained a key strategic partner for India. The two countries are also part of a trilateral military exercise with US (malabar exercise). Efforts are on to expand the cooperation into joint defence production — a topic under discussion for years but needs a definite boost at the high level. There may be specific discussions on long-pending Indian proposal to buy the US-2 amphibious aircraft from Japan and joint development of military equipment. The annual Indo-Japan summit is taking place amid escalating tension in the region in the wake of the nuclear test by North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Modi and Abe are expected to deliberate on them.

5) Benefit for Gujarat

An agreement between the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Gujarat Maritime Board for developing the Alang shipbuilding yard, besides the establishment of two industrial parks, will be on the table during Abe’s visit.

According to Gujarat Chief Secretary, JN Singh, 15 Japanese companies are keen to invest in Gujarat and will be signing agreements with the state government. Some of these companies include Moresco, Toyoda Gosei, Topre and Murakami.