Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in New Delhi last week to take part in the 9th annual Japan-India summit with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Both leaders evaluated the state of their "special strategic and global partnership" and reviewed the implementation of various decisions taken over the last year on the economic and trade front.
During Modi's visit last year, Japan had announced doubling of its private and public investment in India to about $34 billion over a period of five years. The two leaders wanted to ensure that the momentum in economic ties is maintained. And they did not disappoint.
The biggest announcement during Abe's visit was India's decision to adopt Japanese bullet-train technology for its first high-speed railway. The 505-km corridor linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad will be financed by a Japanese loan at just 0.5 percent interest.