'Shinkansen' project will serve as a spark for further growth in India: Japan PM Abe says before leaving Japan

NewsBharati    13-Sep-2017
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Tokyo, September 13: Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is scheduled to reach India on Wednesday has departed from Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. During his 3 day trip to India, he will attend the inaugural ceremony of Bullet train project linking Ahmedabad-Mumbai. He will have talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders will set the future direction of Indo-Japan cooperation.

Along with railway project inauguration, he will also attend the 12th India-Japan annual summit. It is expected in Japan, he will discuss how to bolster bilateral defense and maritime security cooperation amid China's growing assertiveness in regional waters. Defense is already a major area of cooperation in indo-Japan bilateral relation.

"I want us to take a big step so that this 'Shinkansen' project, which heralded the start of Japan's own rapid economic growth, will serve as a spark for further growth in India," Abe told local media before leaving Tokyo's Haneda airport.

The railway project which will be inaugurated will be using Japan's "shinkansen" bullet train technology. The project ix expected to be complete by 2023. New Delhi is also planning to build high-speed railways connecting the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Hence Abe will try to promote the adoption of Japanese technology in other railway systems.

Japan PM is interested to upgrade "two-plus-two" security talks involving vice foreign and defense ministers, as local media reported. As per Japanese officials, it is expected that Japan will bring in the North Korea issue during his meeting with PM Modi.