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PM to address Japan House today
Manmohan who is on a 4-day visit to Japan, will also meet the country's top leaders today, reports Madhur Singh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tokyo at 8.40 on Wednesday evening and was received by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso at Chinzan-so airport.
Singh is scheduled to meet Aso and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari on Thursday. He will also address a joint session of the Diet, besides inaugurating the Festival of India in Japan in the evening. At the same function, the Prime Minister and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, will release the logo of the Indo-Japan Friendship Year 2007.
Interacting with the media on board the PM’s flight, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Principal Secretary T.K.A. Nair said that under the rubric of the Indo-Japan Global Partnership, the Prime Minister will discuss an “entire range of areas”. Narayanan said defence and security cooperation is on the agenda. In particular, the two prime ministers will discuss the security of Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) and anti-piracy measures.
Asked if Japan would be forthcoming in its support for the Indian nuclear programme, he said that Japan understood our need for nuclear energy. “We are confident that Japan will not be unwilling to support us at the NSG,” he added.
Nair said that a comprehensive understanding on the economic front would also be forged. The announcement of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is expected, although negotiations will not start until January, 2007.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and his Japanese counterpart Akira Amari on Wednesday signed an MoU to upgrade the existing Japan-India Policy Dialogue (JIPD) from the official to the ministerial level. The first JIPD meeting will be held in New Delhi in the near future.
The ministers also reached an understanding on the development of an industrial corridor along the Delhi-Mumbai multi-modal freight corridor. A task force under the secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and the vice-minister of the Japanese Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry has been assigned the task of developing the concept.
Email Madhur Singh: madhur.singh@hindustantimes.com
