As Prime Ministers meet, Japan & India formalise 4th tranche of loan for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train

India and Japan signed documents for the fourth tranche of the Japanese loan for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway, or the Bullet Train project, on Monday.

The exchange of notes for a loan of 300 billion Yen on the project took place on the sidelines of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida in New Delhi.

According to India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, this was the fourth tranche of the total of Rs 18,000 crore loan by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the high speed train project.

Both the Prime Ministers assessed the progress of the bullet train which has been progressing well, he said during a special media briefing after the talks.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project will use Japanese Shinkansen (Bullet Train) technology. It is envisaged that the 508-km distance between the two cities will be covered in two hours and seven minutes with a maximum operational speed of 320 kilometer per hour (kmph).

Earlier, in a Joint Media Statement after their meeting, Prime Minister Modi said that in 2022, the two countries had set a target of Japanese investment of 5 trillion yen in India in the next 5 years, or three lakh twenty thousand crore rupees. "It is a matter of satisfaction that there has been good progress in this direction," Prime Minister Modi noted.

According to Foreign Secretary Kwatra, one of the areas of cooperation between the two countries in defence is likely to be co-innovation and co-design. Investment collaboration was discussed for defence, he added.

In his briefing, Foreign Secretary Kwatra said that India and Japan have been talking about how India and Japan can cooperate on the Act East. They are talking about how connectivity projects can be built which link India’s north-east with the rest of the countries that fall under Act East, he added.

The two Prime Ministers also visited the Buddha Jayanti Park in New Delhi where Prime Minister Modi present a sapling of a Bal Bodhi tree to the Japanese PM.

"One of the aspects which connects India and Japan is the teachings of Lord Buddha. PM @kishida230 and I went to the Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi. Sharing some glimpses," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. He also shared photographs of Prime Minister Kishida enjoying Indian snacks, including 'gol gappas'.

"A walk-through the India-Japan relationship rooted in spiritual affinity! PM @narendramodi and PM @kishida230 of Japan visit the Buddha Jayanti Park in New Delhi.

In a special gesture, PM Modi gifted a sapling of Bal Bodhi tree to PM Kishida," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.