Monday, September 01, 2014: The recent visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and more energy and UT tycoons to Japan, is going to visit both the countries in multiple ways, The visit began on Saturday, 30 August in the ancient capital of Kyoto. While Japan has a great resource of wealth and technology, India is power packed with natural resources which can be highly beneficial for a modern economy.
This visit is expected to lead to some substantial agreements between Modi and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe which can also start a co-operation in nuclear power generation technology. In the long run the investment sector is the main focus for both the countries. Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS Economics, said, “I think there’ll be some very big agreements, on the energy side also, not just nuclear but also renewable energy. India has been lagging on that and needs help from Japan.”
Since 2012, when Abe took his office, he has been roaming around the globe to help clinch big contracts for the industrial giants like Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. These deals are a part of his “Abenomics” agenda. India is a VIP customer for them as the country plans to spend some $1 trillion on roads, railways and other infrastructure in 2012-2017. Modi will try to clinch three deals from this visit primarily including railway modernization, an industrial corridor between New Delhi and Mumbai, and 100 “smart cities” with high-tech communication facilities and modern infrastructure.
The two sides, as reported by Nikkei, are also expected to cooperate on India’s mining of rare earths which can attract further investments too in India. But prospects about the sales of nuclear technology are not yet clear. Kunal Singh, a researcher at the Center for Policy Research, thinks, “It is not an easy ride, definitely.” In the energy sector, so far, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other Japanese banks have already agreed to co-finance a $550 million loan for Reliance Industries Ltd. When Abe visited India in January the two countries agreed to cooperate in energy and telecom sectors. In the past decade, Japan’s exports to India, of electronics, iron and steel, have also seen a boom.
