Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit India from December 11-13, during which he is expected to visit Varanasi along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr.Abe, who will be in Delhi for the annual summit between India and Japan, met Mr.Modi on the sidelines of the COP21 climate change summit in Paris on November 30, where the dates were finalised, sources confirmed to The Hindu .
While the two Prime Ministers are expected to discuss Japan’s considerable outlay in Indian infrastructure, including the $100-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor project, a slew of other agreements that have been delayed since their last summit in August 2014 are on the agenda. At the top of the list are the Indo-Japan nuclear cooperation agreement and a deal for India to buy U-2 amphibian aircraft, both of which didn’t fructify during Mr.Modi’s visit to Japan in 2014. While there is no confirmation that the nuclear deal will be signed during this visit, any positive announcement will be a big boost for India’s ambition to join various international nuclear regimes, including the NSG and MTCR.
Strident positionJapan has always taken a strident position on India’s refusal to sign the non-proliferation treaty, and its approval for a civil nuclear agreement will be a major signal of India’s position on the world stage.
During the meeting of the two leaders in Paris, Mr. Abe had said that “India, which is a main emitter, is a key for the success of COP21.” Japan is a key donor to help India fight pollution, and its contribution to cleaning up the Ganga will be highlighted during his visit to Varanasi.
