by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Gaurav Sharma,
Beijing : China on Monday reacted cautiously to the trilateral meet between India, Japan and the US on the sidelines of the just-concluded G20 summit, saying Beijing was okay to such a set-up if it did not disturb peace in the region.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump had a meeting in Argentina’s Buenos Aires, an event which came against the backdrop of China’s rising influence.
The three countries are part of the so-called Quad, the fourth member being Australia.
Modi, Abe and Trump appealed for an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region where the Chinese presence has steadily grown.
Responding to the meeting between the three leaders, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: “We remain open to normal cooperation among relevant parties.
“We hope such cooperation will promote mutual trust and cooperation in this region and play a constructive role in promoting the development of peace and prosperity in the region,” he added.
The first such trilateral was an extension of Japan and US bilateral and was dubbed as “JAI” — an acronym for Japan, America and India.
“The three leaders reaffirmed the importance of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision for global stability, prosperity and pledged to deepen trilateral cooperation,” India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Tokyo : The trade agreement Washington and Tokyo plan to negotiate will be a model for the Indo-Pacific region, US Vice President Mike Pence said at the start of his Asia tour on Tuesday.
Pence, who referred to trade negotiations to be held between the US and Japan in January, met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the first stop of his Asia and Oceania tour, Efe news reported.
“The alliance between the US and Japan is historic. It is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” said Pence.
In a joint media briefing, the two leaders highlighted the strength of their bilateral trade and defence ties although they also expressed differences in addressing economic cooperation.
“We are grateful for Japan’s renewed investment,” said the US leader.
He thanked Abe for his commitment towards Japanese investments in the US which were a major economic contribution and source of job creation.
However, Pence pointed out that bilateral trade balance had been uneven for too long as Japan applied barriers on US goods and services imports.
But Japan, Pence said, “is an indispensible trading partner for the US” and the countries have a great opportunity ahead in the economic dialogue formally started in September.
“The time-honoured bond between the US and Japan is a model for nations across the Indo-Pacific region and the world,” said Pence, adding that US leadership in the region was based on collaboration and not control.
Abe said both nations agreed to promote free and open trade in the Indo-Pacific region based on fair rules as well as expanding mutually beneficial bilateral trade and investment.
However, Abe used the same arguments to criticize the tariff measures and other protectionist policies applied by the administration of Donald Trump and expressed concern over the US’ withdrawal from several multinational trade initiatives.
Both Abe and Pence will participate this week in the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit (Asean) in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Papua New Guinea to promote regional economic integration.
This marked Pence’s third visit to Japan since assuming office. The two governments signed a series of agreements to promote mutual investments in infrastructure, telecommunications and nuclear power for civilian use.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Aroonim Bhuyan,
New Delhi : With India’s northeastern region being a pivot area of New Delhi’s Act East Policy, its importance again came into focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s annual bilateral summit with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on October on 28-29.
With Modi describing Japan as the cornerstone of India’s Act East Policy and the two countries agreeing to work together in more concrete terms for the development of the Indo-Pacific region, the Northeast has emerged as a key link in this chain.
The Indo-Pacific region stretches from the east coast of Japan to the east coast of Africa and both India and Japan agree that the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc has to play a central role for the peace and prosperity of the region.
According to an India-Japan Vision Statement issued following the Tokyo summit, both Modi and Abe “reiterated their unwavering commitment to working together towards a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“The two leaders also affirmed that Asean unity and centrality are at the heart of the Indo-Pacific concept, which is inclusive and open to all,” it stated.
Under the Act East Policy, the Northeast, which shares historical and traditional bonds with the Asean region, is seen as the springboard for India’s increasing engagements with Southeast Asia and for this New Delhi has roped in Tokyo in a big way.
Japan’s role in development work in the Northeast is also expected to boost connectivity between the member-states of the Bimstec sub-regional grouping.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec), which came into existence in 1997, comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Membership in the bloc allows India to engage more with the extended neighbourhood in Southeast Asia under New Delhi’s Neighbourhood First Policy via northeastern India.
This will also help keep in check China’s growing influence in the region through Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
India has not joined the BRI on the grounds that it has put participating nations in debt traps and also does not respect the territorial integrity of other countries.
Last year, India and Japan established the Act East Forum to serve as a driving force for cooperation between the two countries in the Northeast and the second meeting of the Forum was held on October 8 in which key infrastructure projects, including road development, in the region were identified.
“The two Prime Ministers welcomed the progress made for the development of India’s northeastern region through the India-Japan Act East Forum by identifying and implementing projects for enhancing connectivity, sustainable forest and ecological management, disaster risk reduction and people-to-people exchanges,” the Vision Statement said.
At an interaction organised by the New Delhi-based think tank Brookings India ahead of Modi’s visit to Japan, Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu referred to a statement by Modi that Japan is the only country with which India will partner on the connectivity agenda.
Hiramatsu said that India and Japan can not only contribute to some infrastructure project in the Pacific, his country is also keen to support development work in the northeastern part of India.
He said that the Act East Forum was set up to discuss how Japan and India can collaborate together in many areas, including infrastructure, people-to-people exchange and disaster management in the Northeast.
He also mentioned some of the key infrastructure projects in the region identified during the second meeting of the Act East Forum.
These include National Highway 40 between and Shillong and Dawki, National Highway 51 between Tura and Dalu — both in Meghalaya — and National Highway 54 between Aizawl and Tuipang in Mizoram.
The possibility of a corridor linking Gelephu, the border area between Assam and Bhutan, and Dalu, the border town between Bangladesh and Meghalaya, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is also being explored.
This will include the Dhubri-Phulbari bridge project, which will be the longest river bridge in India when completed, as the third phase of the Northeast Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project.
Development of main district roads (MDRs) and other district roads (ODRs), which will have positive socio-economic effect, is also being considered.
“We are very happy to have connectivity projects together in the Northeast to eventually connect with neighbouring countries like Myanmar or Bangladesh,” Hiramatsu said at the interaction.
Disaster management is another area of cooperation India and Japan are discussing and Hiramatsu said that his country has a lot of experience to share with the Northeast, a region that is prone to floods and earthquakes.
The October 8 Act East Forum meeting decided to expedite Japan’s contribution to resilient infrastructures in the Northeast and through capacity development project on highways in the mountainous regions.
Both sides are also discussing knowledge sharing on the issue through a Japan-India workshop on disaster risk reduction.
Following the October 29 summit in Tokyo, India and Japan also exchanged notes on seven yen loan agreements for key infrastructure projects in India, including two in the Northeast — renovation and modernisation of the Umiam-Umtru Stage-III hydroelectric power station in Meghalaya, and sustainable catchment forest management in Tripura.
Biodiversity conservation and forest management projects in Nagaland and Sikkim are also under consideration.
People-to-people ties also form a key aspect in Japan’s engagement with northeastern India and for this it has been decided to promote Japanese language education in the Northeast.
Gauhati University and Cotton University in Assam, English and Foreign Languages University in Meghalaya, and the National Institute of Technology in Nagaland have expressed interest in this.
(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, World
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Tokyo : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday began his two-day state visit to Japan, to address the regional challenges ahead of the Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Duterte would meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and was expected to exchange views on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Before leaving for Japan, Duterte called for a dialogue with North Korea to curb the ongoing tension in the region, Efe news reported.
“It would be good for America, Japan, (South) Korea and Kim Jong-un to talk and convince him to sit down in a round table (and say) nobody is threatening him.
“There will be no war — and that no one is planning to destroy them,” Duterte said during a press conference in Davao, Philippines, before leaving.
The Japanese government noted that Duterte’s visit, the second since the beginning of his presidency in June 2016, is a good opportunity for the leaders to exchange views before the Asean Summit, which will take place in Manila in mid-November.
Before his meeting with Abe, Duterte would participate in a business event on Monday and meet Foreign Minister Taro Kono, as well as the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Shinichi Kitaoka.
After holding a joint press conference with Abe, Duterte is set to attend a dinner hosted by the Prime Minister at his official residence.
On Tuesday, the Philippine President will be received by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace, which will be his first meeting with the royal couple.
Duterte arrived in Japan early on Monday. His visit was shortened from three to two days due to the tropical storm Saola near Japan, which resulted in over fifty flights being cancelled on Sunday.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will on Thursday lay the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project, connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad, in Ahmedabad, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
“The commencement of work on the country’s first High Speed Rail (Bullet train) project will begin on September 14 in Ahmedabad,” Goyal told reporters here, adding that the bullet train technology would “revolutionise and transform the transport sector”.
“This will be a historical moment as India will gets it first bullet train,” he said.
“This is an occasion to celebrate the advent of the most modern technology in India. It shall also benefit the farmers for transportation of agricultural produce in a fast mode,” Goyal said.
The Railway Minister said that the high-speed rail was envisioned by Modi to take Indian Railways towards “most modern technologies like developed countries”.
With the Indian Railways adopting most modern technologies, the bullet train was an endeavour to bring economic growth and prosperity in the country, he said.
The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project will entail an estimated cost of Rs 1,10,000 crore.
“Out of this Rs 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs 88,000 crore and the interest on this loan is minimal, i.e. 0.1 per cent,” Goyal said.
“This loan is to be repaid to Japan in 50 years. Loan repayment period of 50 years with 15 years grace.”
Of the 508-km stretch, 92 per cent of the route will be elevated, six per cent in tunnel and the rest two per cent will be on the ground.
That is, 508 km stretch will have 468 km of elevated track, 27 km inside tunnel and the remaining 13 km on the ground.
The high speed train will also pass through the country’s biggest tunnel of 21 km, of which seven km will be under the sea.
Sushant Mishra, Infra Advisor to the Indian Railways, told IANS that Japan was awarded the contract because there had been no accident on its bullet train networks.
“They (Japan) are pioneers of bullet train technology, and their train has the highest punctuality rate,” Mishra said.
Japan was also ready to transfer the technology to India and sponsoring the project.
He also said that the works for the terminal in Sabarmati would start from September 14 itself.
“About 825 hectares of land would be acquired for the high speed rail,” he said.
On the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, total 12 stations have been proposed that include Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.
The distance of 508 km will be covered in two hours and seven minutes by the bullet train if it stops at four stations namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai.
According to railway ministry officials, the operating speed of the bullet train will be 320 kilometers per hour and maximum speed will be 350 kilometers per hour.
If the bullet train will stop at all 12 stations, then it will cover the distance in two hours and fifty-eight minutes.
In a day, the high-speed train will make 70 Ahmedabad-Mumbai sorties.
“A total of 24 high-speed trains will be imported from Japan and then rest of the rakes will be manufactured in India,” Mishra said.
—IANS
