Beyond bullet trains: What makes India-Japan trade partnership a win-win game
In picturesque Kyoto-an urban landscape of skyscrapers, centuries-old temples, geisha houses and verdant greens-Prime Minister Narendra Modi is possibly one of the best recognised world leaders. Even the taxi driver refers to an india today reporter as a "visitor from Modi's land". In Kobe, the shop floor of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which manufactures rail cars, has pictures of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Modi during their visit to the plant in November last year.
In Tokyo, state officials in the transport department, academicians and corporates, all refer to Modi as a man with a vision and the determination to get things done. "I see that Abe and Modi have a relationship of trust, and also that Japanese policy is now very much focused on India," says Masafumi Shukuri, chairman of the International High-speed Rail Association (IHRA), as he shows pictures of Indian leaders who visited Japan to discuss the high-speed rail project connecting Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The mutual admiration between the leaders of India and Japan is a well-known fact, as is the fact that Modi has been a vociferous admirer of Abenomics ever since he was chief minister of Gujarat.
Trade relations between the two countries have also been growing steadily. Japanese exports to India rose from about Rs 22,900 crore (Yen 388 billion) in 2005 to Rs 57,800 crore (
