Press Release
Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers Lay Foundation Stone for India’s First Bullet Train
September 2017
Sept. 14, 2017 (EIRNS)—During his Sept. 13-14 visit to India, which began at Ahmedabad, the capital of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train, a $17 billion project scheduled to be operational in 2022. The bullet train will run at a maximum speed of 350 km/h, covering the 508-km stretch in under three hours. Japan is giving a loan of about $14 billion for the project at a minimal interest of 0.1%.
During a number of agreements signed, one of the agreements of great importance to India, was to set up a working group for nuclear energy-related cooperation. In the joint statement, referring to the working group, it said: "They [the two prime ministers] looked forward to a working group to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this field and reiterated their shared view that the agreement reflects a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of clean energy, economic development and a peaceful and secure world," PTI reported.
Briefing reporters in New Delhi on the talks between the two prime ministers, India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said, today, that "the aim of their discussions was to elevate strategic partnership, trying to align each other’s approach towards the world." He also referred to discussions that took place on defense collaboration between the two countries. "Till now, the thrust of contacts and cooperation have been on maritime security.... We agreed to explore cooperation and exchanges between our Army and ground self-defense force and Air Force and Japan’s Air Defense Force," Zee media quoted him as saying.
