The ongoing visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China, just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan on Sunday, will have no effect on India-Japan ties, said Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
“India and Japan have a shared vision not only of our bilateral ties but in the regional and global perspective, including on the Indo-Pacific... Not only will there be no impact of [Mr. Abe’s China] visit, but India welcomes the improvement in ties between China and Japan, because an Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and brings every country on board is something Prime Minister Modi has spoken off.”
Sign of thaw
In a sign of a thaw, Mr. Abe is making the first visit by a Japanese leader to China in 11 years. He will be in Beijing until Saturday and return to Japan in time to welcome Mr. Modi on Sunday.
The two leaders are expected to dine together at Mr. Abe’s holiday home in Yamanashi, take a walk at a hotel with a view of Japan’s Mount Fuji, visit an automated factory, and then travel to Tokyo together by train.
During formal talks on Monday in Tokyo, Mr. Modi and Mr. Abe will discuss progress on a range of projects, collaboration on projects in third countries along the “Asia-Africa” growth corridor and cooperation on the “connectivity, economic and geostrategic” aspects of the Indo-Pacific region, the Foreign Secretary said.
India and Japan are already working on an LNG terminal in Sri Lanka, and similar projects will be explored in other parts of India’s neighbourhood during the talks. Japan is also cooperating in construction of roads and bridges in the North-East region, as well as connectivity to Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Mr. Gokhale listed Japanese funded infrastructure projects that will be discussed by the Prime Ministers, including the Rs. 50,000 crore Dedicated Freight corridor Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which is expected to be completed by March 2020, and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Line or Bullet train Shikansen project, which he said would be completed by 2022, in time for India’s “75th Independence day”.
To specific questions on the delays in the Bullet train, the Foreign Secretary admitted that there were a “few issues” with land acquisition in Maharashtra, but that the government hoped to sort out them out by “December or January”. The Hindu had reported that local officials in Palghar have submitted a report warning that the project would miss the December deadline as most of 108 sq. km needed for the Bullet train line had yet to be acquired.
On defence issues, Mr. Gokhale said the two sides may agree to begin negotiations on a naval logistics pact like the Indo-U.S. LEMOA pact, but they did not expect to conclude it or make any announcements on it during this visit.
During his two-day visit to Japan, Mr. Modi will also meet with the Indian community in Tokyo, and attend a business leaders event, before leaving for India on October 29.
