Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to be chief guest at India's Republic Day.

[Assault Rifle]

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to be chief guest at Republic Day.
By IANS | 6 Jan, 2014, 06.02PM IST

NEW DELHI: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to be chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade, in an indication of the growing importance of Japan-India relations.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, chief of Japan's New Komeito Party, a partner of the ruling coalition, said it is for the first time that a Japanese prime minister is to be chief guest at India's Republic Day parade.

"This speaks of the importance India and Japan are giving to the relationship.It is a symbol of this relationship," said Yamaguchi, who met Vice President Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid earlier in the day to discuss India-Japan ties.

"Japan and India are working on ways to strengthen their partnership," he added.

The visit of Abe later this month comes after the visit of Japan's Emperor and Empress to India in November-end last year.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko's six-day visit to India, the second time they were visiting India after 50 years, was their first visit to a South Asian country after taking over the crown.

Read more at:
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to be chief guest at Republic Day - The Economic Times

@Roybot @karan.1970 @Contrarian @Srinivas @Chinese-dragon

 

[Glorino]

Most welcomed news.Hope Japan can further engage with India in the economic and social fields.So much to learn from Japan in increasing the standard of living

 

[Truth Finder]

Good development.

 

[Parul]

Jee aya nu ! Long live India-Japan friendship.

 

[jarves]

Jee aya nu ! Long live India-Japan friendship.

Who is the girl here Japan or India?

 

[ranjeet]

Who is the girl here Japan or India?

Don't worry Jarves we will ask for a nice Japanese lady transformer for you ... Give Iron man some rest, instead screw her up for a while ..

 

[Assault Rifle]

India, Japan to further crank up defence ties - The Times of India

 

[Contrarian]

Thats quite a news!

Being the Chief Guest at Republic Day means that India is looking for a deeper relation with that country!

 

[Srinivas]

Thanks to Chinese warnings department , Japan is going to invest 1 Trillion $ in India.



Japan, India aim for greater air-force ties amid China tension
The countries have decided to strengthen India-Japan defence consultation and cooperation, including those related to maritime security

New Delhi: Japan and India moved to expand air-force ties before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits New Delhi this month, bolstering relations two months after China declared an air-defence identification zone in a disputed area.
Japan’s defense minister Itsunori Onodera and his Indian counterpart A.K. Antony discussed starting talks between air-force officials while reaffirming plans to conduct regular naval exercises, according to an Indian government statement on Monday. The Asia’s second- and third-largest economies may also conduct pilot exchanges.
The ministers decided to strengthen India-Japan defence consultation and cooperation, including those related to maritime security, the government said. Indian naval vessels will visit Japan to conduct exercises this year, it said.
Japan and India, which both have territorial disputes with China, are increasing ties as tensions escalate in Northeast Asia. China and South Korea rejected Abe’s call for talks on Monday after his visit to a war shrine last week drew an angry response from both countries.
Shinzo Abe’s trip to India will be the first by a Japanese leader since 2011, when the countries agreed to boost security ties in the face of China’s growing assertiveness.
Last month, Japanese Emperor Akihito visited India for the first time in five decades, and the nations’ navies conducted bilateral training exercises for the second time in as many years. The countries have also increased financial ties, with India approving an increase in the bilateral currency swap arrangement between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank of Japan to $50 billion from $15 billion.
China in November unnerved its neighbours by declaring an air defence zone in the East China Sea that overlaps with Japan’s zone and includes uninhabited islands claimed by both nations.
An April military standoff between China and India marked the most serious incident between the nuclear-armed neighbours in a quarter of a century on the Himalayan border where the world’s most-populous countries fought a brief war in 1962.

Japan, India aim for greater air force ties amid China tension - Livemint

 

[Srinivas]

India, Japan to further crank up defence ties

NEW DELHI: With an eye firmly on China, India and Japan on Monday decided to "further consolidate and strengthen their strategic and global partnership" in the defence arena through measures ranging from regular joint combat exercises and military exchanges to cooperation in anti-piracy, maritime security and counter-terrorism.

This came during the meeting between defence minister A K Antony and his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera, who is on a visit here till January 8. "The two ministers extensively and frankly exchanged ideas regarding regional and global security challenges, as well as bilateral defence cooperation and exchanges. They shared views on issues relating to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region," said an official.

Onodera also briefed Antony on Japan's National Security Strategy and the National Defence Program Guidelines, which were adopted in December 2013. Both India and Japan have long been wary of the increasingly assertive behaviour of China, especially in the contentious South China Sea, as well as the rapid modernisation of the People's Liberation Army.

India and Japan will hold their third "2 plus 2" Dialogue and fourthDefence Policy Dialogue in New Delhi this year, along with the third bilateral exercise between the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force and Indian Navy to be held in Japanese waters. The Indian defence minister will also visit Japan later this year.

The two ministers agreed to promote exchanges on UN Peacekeeping Operations between Japan Peacekeeping Training and Research Centre, Joint Staff College (JPC), Central Readiness Force of Japan Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF) and Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) of the Indian Army.

The two sides will also conduct "expert exchanges" in counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief between the Indian Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF). The possibility of conducting staff talks between Japan Air Self-Defence Force and Indian Air Force as well as professional exchanges of test-pilots, flight safety experts and others is also on the cards.

India, Japan to further crank up defence ties - The Times of India

Japanese coalition party leader for nuclear cooperation with India

A key ally of Japan's ruling coalition Monday announced support to the India-Japan nuclear cooperation talks, saying they should be "accelerated".

Natsuo Yamaguchi, chief of Japan's New Komeito Party, a junior partner of the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition, said here that there should be a "flexible approach" to the issue of nuclear cooperation.

"We are part of the ruling coalition.. we have no major difference of opinion on the subject.. (of India-Japan nuclear cooperation.) The talks should be accelerated," Yamaguchi told journalists here ahead of the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India later this month.

Yamaguchi, whose Komeito Party is for phasing out of all nuclear reactors in Japan in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and earlier the Hiroshima bombing, said there were two-three aspects of nuclear tech cooperation - nuclear non proliferation, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and safe disposal of nuclear waste.

"These are areas of concern... but we must remain realistic.. cooperation is possible, we must have a flexible approach," he said.

Yamaguchi said during his talks with Vice President Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid he had discussed India-Japan bilateral relations.

With Khurshid, the Japanese MP evinced interest in pushing ahead with setting up of a Peace Studies Institute at the proposed Nalanda University, an international school of higher learning, in Bihar's Rajgir area.

On the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a $90 billion project aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation, Yamaguchi said he had discussed the project with DMIC head Amitabh Kant and parts of the first phase would be implemented by 2017.

Yamaguchi is also to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during which he would discuss all aspects of India-Japan relations as well as the ongoing tensions between Japan and China in the East China Sea.

Japanese coalition party leader for nuclear cooperation with India | Business Standard