Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Modi and Abe strengthen Indo-Japan relations considerably' that was published in Newsband

Modi and Abe strengthen Indo-Japan relations considerably

India and Japan are infusing bilateral ties with a sharper geopolitical agenda. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India has set strategic ties on a fast track.  Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project was launched by Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India will partner with Japan for the 508-km, ₹1.1 lakh-crore project. Japan will export its high-speed train technology along with rolling stock.

Abe said North Korea was a “joint” challenge for India and Japan. There are some countries that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. The two PMs came up with a clause calling for zero tolerance on terrorism. There was a joint statement, “Toward a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific” indicating a much closer alignment between India and Japan in countering China’s influence in the South China Sea, its forays into the Indian Ocean, and investments in South Asia and Africa.

Modi government has set India-Japan ties in a way that will be a major factor in its dealings with the rest of the world, especially China, at a time when the U.S. appears to be retreating from the region.

Japan is India’s largest donor and the third largest provider of FDI. India-Japan bonhomie was on display as Modi, Abe visit Sabarmati Ashram, historic mosque in Gujarat. This visit comes as an assertion of Japan’s interest in India. 15 more Japanese firms have committed to invest in Gujarat this time and the MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) will be signed during the Modi-Abe summit.

Japan has remained a key strategic partner for India. The two countries are also part of the trilateral Malabar naval exercise held with the US annually. Efforts are on to expand the cooperation into joint defence production.

PM and his Japanese counterpart inaugurated India’s first bullet train, the high speed rail project this morning in Ahmedabad. The train will have a capacity of 750 people and is expected to cut the commute between the two cities by four hours.

India truly values the relationship with Japan and is looking forward to further boosting their bilateral ties in a wide range of sectors.

Strongly pitching for zero tolerance against terrorism, India and Japan vowed to strengthen cooperation in order to tackle terrorist groups such as the al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The two Prime Ministers held strategic discussions on a wide range of issues under the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries. The two Prime Ministers welcomed significant deepening of bilateral relations in the past three years and the growing convergence in the political, economic and strategic interests, based on the firm foundation of common values and traditions, as well as on an emerging consensus on contemporary issues of peace, security and development.

The two Prime Ministers pledged to reinforce their efforts to align Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy with India’s Act East Policy, enhance defence and security cooperation and dialogues, ensure partnerships for prosperity through the India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership, speedy implementation of key infrastructure projects including the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Railway (MAHSR), and advancing cooperation in the fields of energy, smart cities, information and communication technology, space, science and technology, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and health, strengthen people-to-people and cultural ties, work together on global challenges such as proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), terrorism, space and cyber security, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform, climate change and environment, strengthen trilateral cooperation frameworks with the United States, Australia and other countries and reinforce Defence and Security Cooperation.

The two Prime Ministers emphasised the significance of defence and security cooperation in enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries. All these indicate how intimate the relation between the two countries has turned out to be.