Buzz in Guwahati over Modi-Abe meet

India announced on Friday that the annual summit of the two prime ministers will be held during December 15-17, but other details such as the venue and the agenda for the meeting were not announced.

Guwahati is decking up for what a minister called a “high-level visit” amidst a buzz that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could hold talks in this city in Assam mid-December.

The two leaders are likely to cap the summit with a visit to the World War 2 memorial and peace museum on the outskirts of Imphal on December 17. (PTI)

India announced on Friday that the annual summit of the two prime ministers will be held during December 15-17, but other details such as the venue and the agenda for the meeting were not announced. “From December 15 to December 17 we are anticipating a very high-level visit. We are preparing for it,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, a senior cabinet minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Assam government, said on Saturday.

He inspected arrangements on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati alongside other top officials from various departments. Scores of workers are scrubbing the city, with buildings, bridges and flyovers a fresh coat of paint. “Top state government officials have been given charge of specific arrangements,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity. As first reported by HT, the two leaders are expected to have interaction at a 19th century colonial riverside bungalow in Guwahati and take a cruise on the Brahmaputra river. The two sides zeroed in on Guwahati as the venue because of the focus on India’s northeastern states under the Act East Forum launched by India and Japan almost two years ago and the substantial development assistance provided to the region by Tokyo.

The two leaders are likely to cap the summit with a visit to the World War 2 memorial and peace museum on the outskirts of Imphal on December 17.

“As the detailed programme is yet to be shared, we are still not clear if the two prime ministers will leave the airport together. There will be arrangements to welcome them on the road which leads to the city,” said a second state government functionary on condition of anonymity.