Modi, Abe urge Pak to arrest terrorists behind Mumbai, Pathankot attacks
AHMEDABAD :After laying the foundation stone for Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail, PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held bilateral talks at Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat on Thursday. Both the leaders called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, 2016 Pathankot attacks.
A joint statement said India and Japan also agreed to strengthen cooperation against terror groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS and Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, calling upon Islamabad to act against those behind 2008 Mumbai terror attack and Pathankot.
Modi and Abe looked forward to convening 5th Japan-India consultation on terrorism and to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups including al Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammad , Lashkar-e-Toiba and their affiliates. Addressing a joint statement with the Japanaese leader, PM Modi said, “Indo-Japan ties are not limited to bilateral or regional spheres, we also have close cooperation on key global issues.”
After jointly inaugurating work on India’s first bullet train, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held summit talks today and signed 15 agreements to enhance strategic partnership, agreeing to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasingly assertive.
Emphasizing on Indo-Japan economic relationship, PM Modi said, “Japan invested USD 4.7 billion in India in 2016-17, 80 percent higher than last year.” Prime Minister announced that Indian and Japanese postal service will start a ‘cool box service’ for Japanese living in India so that they can order their favorite food from Japan.
He urged the Japanese business community to open maximum number of Japanese restaurant chains in India. India and Japan agreed to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region where China is increasing its assertiveness. While referring to the recently held Malabar Exercise in the month of July, Japan PM Shinzo Abe said Japan-India-US cooperation will be further strengthened.
PM Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe also condemned in the strongest terms North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. India and Japan signed 15 agreements documents during the 12th India-Japan Annual Summit. The agreements documents will deepen the special strategic and global partnership between both Asian nations.
Abe said that Japan Promotion Board office has been set up in Gujarat to increase investment.The Japanese PM thanked the Indians for the grand and warm reception.”Very thankful and overwhelmed by the warm welcome by people of India and the government,” Abe said.
During the talks between the two leaders, India and Japan inked 15 pacts to give a boost to cooperation in various key sectors, including civil aviation, trade and science and technology. “We have just signed a joint statement which will serve as a milestone to open a new era for Japan-India relationship… Based on that we will strongly promote Japan- India special strategic and global partnership to drive peace and prosperity for Indo-Pacific region and the whole world,” Abe said.
PM Modi and visiting Japanese PM Shinzo Abe launched work on India’s first bullet train at Gujarat’s Ahmedabad this morning. The 508 km high-speed rail link to Mumbai is seen as a centrepiece of PM Modi’s efforts to demonstrate India’s capability to build high-tech projects. The bullet train is expected to begin operating in 2022.
At an average speed of 250 km per hour, with a top speed of around 320 km per hour, the train will run at more than double the top speed of the fastest train in India. Of the 508-km stretch, 92 per cent of the route will be elevated, six per cent through a tunnel and the rest on the ground. The high speed train will pass through the country’s longest tunnel of 21 km, of which seven km will be under sea near Thane in Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra government is still undecided on where the bullet train will end in Mumbai. The state government this week agreed to spare 9,000 sq metres plot for the station at the Bandra-Kurla Complex on the condition that the railways assess suitability of an alternative site.
PM Modi said “New India… has taken an important step towards fulfilling a big dream.” He said the “bullet train will bring employment as well as speed,” adding that it was an emotional moment for India and that Japan has proved itself a “strong friend.”PM Modi on Thursday said the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) bullet train project for which he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone would bring pace to development in the country.
“A strong India is good for Japan and a strong Japan is good for India,” said Mr Abe after the two leaders laid the foundation stone for the project at the Sabarmati station. He spoke in Japanese but began with “Namaskar” and ended his speech with a “Dhanyawad.”
Shinzo Abe, who landed to a grand reception on Wednesday afternoon, said Indo-Japan partnership is special, strategic and global.The prime ministers of the two countries also laid the foundation stone for an institute in Vadodara where around 4,000 people will be trained for the bullet train project.
The Rs. 1.1 lakh crore bullet train project is a joint venture between the Indian Railways and Japanese firm Shinkansen Technology. The Japanese team estimated that the first train would roll out by 2023, but Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said PM Modi wants the train to start on 15 August 2022 – when India completes 75 years of Independence.
Japan will fund 81 per cent of the project, nearly Rs. 88,000 crores, in soft loans at an interest rate of 0.1%. The loan will have to be repaid over 50 years. The new train will race between PM Modi’s home state Gujarat and Mumbai, carrying 750 passengers. Travel time will be reduced from eight hours to a little over three hours if it stops at all the 12 stations and around two hours if it stops at only four.
The 15 agreements/documents inked between India and Japan are:
- Agreement for International Joint exchange programme in science and technology
- Joint Research Contract between Japan’s AIST and India’s DBT
- MoU promotion of Cooperation in Research related activities
- MoU between DBT and National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology
- MoU on International Academic and Sports Exchange between LNIPE and Nippon Sports Science University
- MoU on International Academic and Sports Exchange between Sports Authority of India n Nippon Sports Science University, Japan
- Letter of Intent between LNIPE and University of Tsukuba, Japan
- Letter of Intent between Sports Authority of India and University of Tsukuba, Japan
- India-Japan investment promotion road map
- MoC on ‘Japan-India Special Programme for Make in India’
- RoD on Civil Aviation Cooperation
- MoC on Disaster Risk Management
- MoC in the field of Japanese Language Education
- Indian Japan Act East Forum
- Arrangement for Administrative Instruction for the Implementation of Cool EMS service.
(With Agency Inputs).
