The three day visit to India by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begins from tomorrow. He and Prime Minister share a rapport that has been visible all through. His talks with Narendra Modi begins at Ahmedabad. Chinese President Xi Jinping was similarly hosted in Ahmedabad with much fanfare in 2014 but the relationship between the two countries hasn't taken off as expected and on the contrary, the recent Doklam stand off was the latest incident to show that the ride continues to be bumpy!
Our relationship with Japan, on the other hand, has been on the upswing with a rise in exports and about 1,305 Japanese companies having branches in India. The highlights of the partnership are the Japanese investments in projects like the Delhi Metro and the futuristic Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor! The two Prime Ministers will lay the foundation stone for the Rs.1.1 lakh crore Bombay-Ahmedabad bullet train project which Japan is financing.
An Indian bullet train against the backdrop of the shabby state and unsatisfactory safety record of the Indian Railways may raise many eyebrows. But two points need to be noted in this context. First, the bullet train will have a separate financing stream. Second, the project can be used as a model to upgrade technology, standards and protocols across the railways!
The biggest spin off is the expected launch of the Asia Africa Growth Corridor. The corridor is meant to build capacity and boost human resource development in Africa, create quality infrastructure and facilitate people-to-people partnerships thereby seeking to connect differing growth poles through local ownership of projects, skill development and transfer of technology.
To my mind, it has a two fold strategy on the part of India. Its Africa policy is, finally, on the anvil after decades of dithering and it's a viable alternative to the Chinese OBOR policy! It's different from the Chinese initiative in that it offers a model of development - in Asia and Africa - that respects sovereignty and democratic principles.
Tailpiece.
It's against this backdrop that one is wonder struck by Rahul Gandhi's observation - at the University of California, Berkeley - that India has lost its vision ever since the Congress is out of power at the Center.
Our relationship with Japan, on the other hand, has been on the upswing with a rise in exports and about 1,305 Japanese companies having branches in India. The highlights of the partnership are the Japanese investments in projects like the Delhi Metro and the futuristic Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor! The two Prime Ministers will lay the foundation stone for the Rs.1.1 lakh crore Bombay-Ahmedabad bullet train project which Japan is financing.
An Indian bullet train against the backdrop of the shabby state and unsatisfactory safety record of the Indian Railways may raise many eyebrows. But two points need to be noted in this context. First, the bullet train will have a separate financing stream. Second, the project can be used as a model to upgrade technology, standards and protocols across the railways!
The biggest spin off is the expected launch of the Asia Africa Growth Corridor. The corridor is meant to build capacity and boost human resource development in Africa, create quality infrastructure and facilitate people-to-people partnerships thereby seeking to connect differing growth poles through local ownership of projects, skill development and transfer of technology.
To my mind, it has a two fold strategy on the part of India. Its Africa policy is, finally, on the anvil after decades of dithering and it's a viable alternative to the Chinese OBOR policy! It's different from the Chinese initiative in that it offers a model of development - in Asia and Africa - that respects sovereignty and democratic principles.
Tailpiece.
It's against this backdrop that one is wonder struck by Rahul Gandhi's observation - at the University of California, Berkeley - that India has lost its vision ever since the Congress is out of power at the Center.
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