G20 Summit: PM Narendra Modi discusses bullet train, Varanasi with Japan counterpart

Japan : Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his G20 summit visit with a set of bilateral matters - including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and the Varanasi convention centre being built with Japanese cooperation-- with ‘old friend’ Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

Japan has given India a soft loan of Rs 79,000 crores for India’s first bullet train modeled on Japan’s Shinkansen trains.

Similarly, Japan has lent India approximately Rs 200 crore for a world class convention centre as part of agreement inked between Varanasi and Kyoto.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told media that Japan PM Abe has specifically suggested that the G20 should take up PM Modi’s initiative on the issue of fugitive economic offenders as part of its anti-corruption measures.

On Friday, India, Japan and the US will be holding a trilateral meeting to discuss the Indo-Pacific initiative that all three countries are separately pursuing and discussing together, he added

At the start of the meeting, Shinzo Abe congratulated PM Modi for his stellar poll victory and said that it was ‘his turn’ to visit India and he was ‘looking forward’ to it. Prime Minister Modi acknowledged that Abe was the first to call after his victory. “...you were the first friend of India who congratulated me, on phone. I also express my gratitude for the warm welcome you and Japan Government have accorded to us.”  PM said.