India, Japan ink pacts on bullet train, nuke energy

Accompanied by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, Abe, who waved as he alighted, was received by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Taking their robust bilateral ties to a new level, India and Japan on Saturday inked a number of pacts in key areas of defence and nuclear energy as well as building of first bullet train network between Mumbai-Ahmedabad at a cost of about Rs 98,000 crore.

The strategic pacts were inked after the summit between Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during which they also discussed international and regional issues of mutual importance including UN security reforms.

Addressing a joint press meet with Abe, Modi said: “No friend will matter more in realising India’s economic dreams than Japan” while describing Abe as “a personal friend and a great champion of India-Japan partnership”. Modi further added: “The memorandum we signed on civil nuclear energy cooperation is more than just an agreement for commerce and clean energy. It is a shining symbol of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of a peaceful and secure world,” he added.

Later, briefing the media, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said India and Japan have reached a “substantive agreement” on the nuclear issue.

He said there were some technical details, legal scrubbing and internal details to be gone through. “But the key part of the agreement has been done.” He even described Japan as a very important player in the global nuclear industry.

A whopping Rs 98,000-crore project to lay India’s first bullet train network between commercial nerve centre of Mumbai and Ahmedabad was on Saturday finalised. “No less historic is our decision to introduce High Speed Rail on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector through Japan’s Shinkansen, known for its speed, reliability and safety,” Modi elaborated. 

He also greatly appreciated Abe’s extraordinary package of approximately $12 billion (approx Rs 98,000 crore) and technical assistance, on very easy terms, for this project.

Jaishankar said Japan will provide 80 per cent of the funds for the project at 0.1 per cent interest rate for a period of 50 years. He further added that there will be a moratorium of 15 years for repayment of the highly concessional loan.

The bullet train network will link Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the capital Gujarat. Bullet train between the two cities will cut travel time on the 505-km route from eight hours to around three.