PM Modi's reform run like a bullet train, says Japan PM Shinzo Abe

NEW DELHI: Prime minister Narendra Modi's reform push found a fan in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who likened the speed with which his Indian counterpart was implementing economic policies to a high-speed bullet train.

" PM Modi's economic policies are like Shinkansen (Japanese high-speed railway network) — high speed, safe and reliable and carrying many people along," the Japanese premier told a delegation at the business leaders forum in New Delhi.

Abe, who arrived in the capital on Friday for a three-day visit, invited Indian companies to invest in Japan. Addressing the industry captains, Abe said “I want you, the representatives of the Indian industry to come and invest in Japan.”

Echoing Abe's view, PM Modi pitched for greater cooperation with Japan. "We don't want just high-speed trains from Japan but also high-speed growth," he said.

"A strong India is good for Japan and a strong Japan is good for India," Abe told the delegates.

Top on PM Modi's agenda is a big civil nuclear pact, this time with Japan, and if Indian negotiators prevail, the deal will follow the template of the Indo-US nuclear pact.

Senior government officials familiar with the matter told ET on the condition of anonymity that India and Japan are conducting hectic parleys to seal the historic deal.

The proposed civil nuclear deal, being negotiated for the past five years, is slated to be the biggest outcome of this edition of the annual summit that would also witness expansion of defence partnership with an eye on stabilising the Asia-Pacific region. A major trade and investment initiative along with an agreement on bullet trains are also high on the agenda.