NEW DELHI: Just a few days before the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India, the Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today said that the growing convergence of views between the two countries can drive drive entire Asia’s development and stimulate the global growth.
Stating that the agenda for India-Japan relations has elements today that could not have been contemplated some years ago, the Foreign Secretary said, “Cooperation in civil nuclear energy and in defence are two domains that portend the future direction of our ties’.
The difference that Japan can make to Indian nuclear industry can be quite substantive, he said adding, Japan’s openness to supply India with military technology reflects the high level of confidence that the two countries have developed in each other.
“The growing convergence of views between Japan and India has the capacity to drive Asia’s economy and development and stimulate the global growth. In this regard, the two countries have agreed to cooperate closely to promote connectivity, infrastructure and capacity-building in the regions that occupy the inter-linked waters of the Indo-Pacific,” Foreign Secretary said speaking at the India-Japan Colloquium here.
He said interactions between India and Japan now has a “significance beyond the bilateral” and therefore, the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor is just one example.
“Japan is already working with India in priority infrastructure in India like the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and various Metro Rail projects.
The Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor is the next one on the horizon. The flagship project of our relationship, of course, is the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway,” he said. Mr Jaishankar said while all these projects have their own direct economic implications, a few such long-term projects in fact impacted the “overall thinking” in India as well.
“My generation will recall how much the arrival of the Maruti-Suzuki cars changed not just our way of life but our expectations and assumptions as well.
The next one probably feels somewhat the same about the Delhi Metro Rail project,” he said.
The Foreign Secretary pointed out that even as Japan is working with India as a valued partner in India’s economic transformation, both countries also cooperate with “greater ease” in international relations.
“They (India and Japan) realize the importance of shaping Asia’s architecture while promoting its growth, development, and stability. As a result, our conversations have got more comfortable on a much broader range of issues. From just comparing notes, we have now moved on to explore the possibilities of collaborating on projects in third countries,” he said adding much work is still awaited in that regard. (AGENCIES)
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