Japan Ready to Upgrade Indian Railways, Facilitate Business Ties

Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are set to sign a 1.5-trillion yen ($12.5 billion) investment agreement to promote Japanese companies on the Indian market and provide loan to equip the underground, local media reported Saturday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) – According to the Yomiuri newspaper, the bilateral deals that will be signed in the course of the high-level meeting later in the day, will include an agreement on the use of Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed trains, also known as bullet trains, expected to operate on the proposed 500-kilometer (310.68 miles) railway linking the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad in western India.

Moreover, Tokyo pledged to provide New Delhi with a loan in the amount of 400 trillion yen ($ 3.3 billion) before the end of March 2016.

During the current Abe’s visit to India, the sides will sign an agreement on the invitation of 10,000 Indian students for an internship in Japan within five years, the daily said.

Another important topic of the negotiations between Abe and Modi will be the cooperation in the defense area, especially since Japan wants to take part in joint military exercises of India and the United States in the Indian Ocean.

The prime ministers will also try to achieve progress on a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation. The accord would pave the way for Japanese technologies to the Indian market, the newspaper concluded.