India and Japan signed multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on Saturday for cooperation in the defence, transport and civil nuclear energy sectors.
Stating that the India-Japan partnership had the greatest potential of any bilateral relationship, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the signing of the MoUs that will, among other things, bring Japan's high-speed trains to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.
Modi thanked his Japanese counterpart for offering the economic package for the bullet trains on easy terms.
"We greatly appreciate PM Abe's extraordinary package of approximately $12 billion and technical assistance, on very easy terms, for the high-speed rail project," said Modi.
"It will launch a revolution in Indian Railways and speed up India's journey into the future," he said.
India and Japan also signed agreements for the transfer of defence equipment and technology, cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy, as well as cooperation for maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region. India invited Japan to join the India-US Malabar exercises.
"The MoU on civil nuclear energy cooperation is not just about commerce and clean energy but also symbolic of the mutual confidence and partnership for a secure world," Modi said.
One of the agreements will also bring into effect a "Japan-India Make-In-India Special Finance Facility".
Modi also announced visa on arrival for all Japanese citizens from 1 March next year.
Abe announced that Japan would build a convention centre in Varanasi, Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.
Here are some of the MoUs signed today:
Agreement on Defence Equipment and Technology pic.twitter.com/jdFqNzGGk4
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) December 12, 2015
Transforming India's transportation sector pic.twitter.com/gqfIC9CAlU — Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) December 12, 2015
MoU on civil nuclear energy co-op isn't just about commerce & clean energy but symbolic of mutual confidence & partner'p for a secure world
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) December 12, 2015
An engine for economic transformation: High Speed Rail on Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector through Japan's Shinkansen pic.twitter.com/4QADHKNZ5c — Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) December 12, 2015