There will be a quantum jump in ODA to India next year

The economic ties between India and Japan have reached a new high. With its commitment to engage in some of India’s biggest infrastructure initiatives such as dedicated rail freight corridors and $90 bn Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Japan is likely to raise its official development assistance to India substantially.

With just 10 days left for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s landmark visit to India, Japan’s ambassador to India Yasukuni Enoki is confident that the bilateral summit will draw a roadmap for future political and economic agenda. In an exclusive interview, he said that business and economic issues would dominate the discussion. Excerpts:


What will be the main agenda for Prime Minister Mr Abe’s impending visit to India?

Both sides will agree on a future roadmap for various issues including political, economic and international co-operation. India is the only country in the world with whom Japan has agreed to have Prime Ministers’ level talks annually. That means, we expect, Dr Manmohan Singh will visit our country next year.

What’s about economic agenda?

Mr Abe will be accompanied by 160 business leaders from Japan. That itself shows that Japanese businessmen are taking India very seriously. Also, it’s one of the rare occasions that such a big business delegation will accompany the Prime Minister.

Can we expect some big announcements on dedicated rail freight corridors?

It’s too early to make any big announcement. But Japan will make some commitments towards its funding.

Already, India is the largest recipient of Japanese ODA. Will this lead to a quantum jump of the total ODA disbursement?

Yes, there should be a big big jump of the ODA next year.

What’s about Japan’s commitment towards investing in the proposed Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor?

We may expect some announcements during PM’s visit. No doubt, the corridor will draw most of our future investments. However, our investments will continue in places like Pune, Bangalore, Chennai etc. It’s not either and or. It’s both. However, for our investors, getting suitable land is still a problem.

When do you expect the FTA between India and Japan to be completed?

We launched the negotiations in January last. Already, three rounds of talks have taken place. We are meeting once in every two months. We expect it to conclude by December 2008 if not earlier.

Will Japan pitch for high speed train projects in India?

There has been no official talks on it so far. But we presume that sooner or later, India will go for high speed railways. We want to build it, but we will face competition from France and Germany. In Taiwan, we got the maximum work whereas France received a part. In China, the process has just begun. In India, the question has not arisen as yet.

Finally, about the Nuke deal with US?

It’s under careful scrutiny. We understand India’s energy needs which will also impact on international energy security. Also, India’s record on non-proliferation has been clean so far. Yet, we have not come to any conclusion whether to support such a deal or not.