From defence to bullet train: Where are India-Japan ties heading?

How will Shinzo Abe's two-day visit to India further shape New Delhi's ties with Japan? BS brings you the details

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived this week in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat for what was the tenth meeting between the two leaders since Modi came to power in 2014.

The centrepiece of the visit has been the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project. Modi-Abe laid the foundation stone for the bullet train in Ahmedabad on Thursday, with the former lauding Japan as India's friend for having extended a Rs 88,000 crore loan at just 0.1 per cent interest.

Further cementing their bilateral ties, India and Japan on Thursday also signed 15 memorandums of understanding (MoUs), which dealt with wide-ranging issues such as bilateral relations, defence and security cooperation, and supporting each other for a permanent seat on the United Nations’ expanded Security Council.

It remains to be seen if the bullet train will prove to be economically viable and whether India and Japan's joint front against China will yield any dividends for either of the nations going ahead.

Read our entire coverage below:

Japanese firms to invest Rs 5 lakh crore in India

While no figure was released on how much Japanese companies planned to invest in India, some sources said it would be around Rs 5 lakh crore, including the flagship bullet train project. One of the more import MoUs was on civil aviation cooperation and open skies. (Read all the details here)

Apart from fresh investment proposals at the summit, Modi claimed Japan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) to India had actually trebled in the past few years, a testimony to the growing economic ties. So far, around $25.7 billion has flown in as FDI from Japan; the plan now is to double this by 2019....Read More 

Full coverage: Modi, Abe kick off India's first bullet train but several hurdles remain

Is the bullet train financially viable? BS decodes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Network, commonly known as the bullet train, in the Gujarat city.

"My good friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a far-sighted leader. He took a decision two years ago to bring high-speed train in India and to create a new India," he said.

"I hope to enjoy the beautiful scenery of India through the windows of the bullet train when I come back here in a few years," said Shinzo Abe after laying the foundation stone.

Around Rs 1.10 lakh crore will be spent on the project that is being partially funded by Japan. Out of the Rs 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs 88,000 crore. The interest on this loan is minimal at 0.1 per cent and it is to be repaid in 50 years, with a grace period of 15 years.

The train will stop at each of the 12 railway stations on the route, but only for 165 seconds. A 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, of which seven km will be under water

35 trains a day: India to get its first bullet train by 2022

The Centre is confident of starting the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train on August 15, 2022, to commemorate the 75th year of India's Independence, a year ahead of its schedule.Initially, the route is expected to have 35 trains per day. This might increase to 105 by 2050.... Read all the details here.