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Modi and Abe pledge to take ties to new level

TOKYO — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi courted Japan’s government and business leaders yesterday, winning pledges of help for his effort to revitalise the lagging Indian economy as the two countries agreed to step up their economic and security cooperation.

TOKYO — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi courted Japan’s government and business leaders yesterday, winning pledges of help for his effort to revitalise the lagging Indian economy as the two countries agreed to step up their economic and security cooperation.

Mr Modi brought a delegation of more than a dozen Indian tycoons on his five-day visit, which began on Saturday, hoping to take the still relatively low-key business relations between the countries to a “new level”.

He and his Japanese counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe also aim to strengthen security ties, with an eye towards an increasingly assertive China.

In a joint statement issued after their talks, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of upgrading defence ties. Mr Modi also welcomed Japan’s relaxation of restrictions on exports of defence-related equipment and technology.

He and Mr Abe “recognised the enormous future potential for transfer and collaborative projects in defence equipment and technology”, the statement said.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Modi called for both countries to stand against rising expansionism among countries in remarks seen as a veiled reference to China, with which India shares a long disputed border.

“The 18th century situation of expansionism is now visible,” Mr Modi said, referring to incidents, such as encroachment of other countries’ territories and intruding in other countries’ seas.

“Such expansionism would never benefit humanity in the 21st century,” he said in a speech to Japanese business leaders.

Sino-Japanese ties have been chilled by a row over disputed isles, feuds over the wartime past and mutual mistrust over defence policies as China seeks a bigger regional role and Mr Abe loosens the constraints of Japan’s post-war pacificism.

Mr Abe is keen to expand Japan’s network of security partnerships with countries such as India and Australia to cope with the challenge presented by China.

The two sides also agreed to hold regular maritime drills and that Japan would continue to participate in India-United States drills.

On the economic front, the two countries agreed to a target of doubling Japan’s foreign direct investment in India.

Mr Abe also pledged to raise public and private investment and financing from Japan to ¥3.5 trillion (S$41.9 billion) within five years and to provide an aid loan of ¥50 billion to the India Infrastructure Finance Co. India needs faster economic growth to create work for the one million young people who enter the workforce every month.

The statement said Japan and India will cooperate on advanced, clean coal technology, which is sorely needed to help combat the choking pollution in India’s major cities.

The two countries said they are in the process of finalising a commercial contract on production and export to Japan of rare earths, which are minerals used in mobile phones, hybrid cars and other high-tech products.

Mr Modi is embarking on an intense month of diplomacy in which he will receive Chinese President Xi Jinping before meeting US President Barack Obama in Washington as he seeks to carve out a stronger role for India as a global player. Agencies

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