News by Darshana Jamindar
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi returns to India after 5 days visit to Japan. Indian PM Narendara Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, during bilateral delegation level talks agreed to enhance their defence and strategic cooperation to a new level and also decided to speed up negotiations on civil nuclear deal that could not be concluded now. Overall the visit of PM Modi remained very fruitful. During Modi’s Japan visit MOU signed for Varanasi’s development on the pattern of Kyoto ‘smart city’ with the help of Japan.
During the historic visit, the two countries also decided to enhance cooperation in defence and other strategic areas and signed five pacts covering defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads and highways, healthcare and women while vowing to take their relationship to newer level.
Japan also lifted ban on six Indian entities including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ,HAL, which had been imposed in the aftermath of 1998 nuclear tests.
During the five-day visit, his first outside the subcontinent since becoming PM in May, Modi invited Japanese investments while hard-selling India as a conducive destination for business particularly for the manufacturing sector.
He told the Japanese businessmen that India was awaiting the investments with a ‘red carpet’ and not ‘red tape’ as rules and procedures have been eased by his government.
During concluding remarks, Modi expressed gratitude to Japan for reposing “trust” in India and demonstrating its friendship with a quip with a bond stronger than fevicol.
“This visit has been very successful,” Modi had said at the Indian community reception hosted in his honour here earlier.
“There has been talk about billions and millions. But there has never been talk of trillions,” he said, referring to 3.5 trillion Yen (USD 35 billion or 2,10,000 crore) promised by Japan to India through public and private funding over the five years for various works, including building of smart cities and cleanup of the Ganga river.
Abe also announced that as an example of Indo-Japan Cooperation, Tokyo will help India in providing financial, technical and operational support to introduce Bullet trains, a project that Modi has been actively pursuing.
