Modi to visit Japan today, N-deal expected

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-day visit to Japan from Thursday during which the two countries are expected to sign a civil nuclear deal besides discussing ways to step up cooperation in the areas like trade, investment and security.

Modi will be holding the annual Summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with the Emperor of Japan in Tokyo.

From Tokyo, Modi, accompanied by Abe, will travel to Kobe by the famed Shinkansen bullet train, the technology that will be deployed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway, Modi said ahead of his visit. He will visit the Kawasaki Heavy Industries facility in Kobe, where high speed railway is manufactured.

“I will visit Japan on 10-12 November 2016 for the Annual Summit. This will be my second visit to Japan as Prime Minister,” Modi said in a statement here on Wednesday.

“I will have a detailed interaction with top business leaders from India and Japan, to look for ways to further strengthen our trade and investment ties,” he said. Modi said he looks forward to reviewing the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation when he meets Abe in Tokyo on November 11.

“Our partnership with Japan is characterized as a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. India and Japan see each other through a prism of shared Buddhist heritage, democratic values, and commitment to an open, inclusive and rules-based global order,” he added.

During the visit, the two countries are expected to sign civil nuclear cooperation agreement which will facilitate leading US-based atomic companies to set up plants in India.

The two countries had sealed a broad agreement during Abe’s visit here last December but the final deal was yet to be signed as certain technical and legal issues were to be thrashed out.