As their navies meet for Malabar, Modi, Abe review ties

Hamburg, July 8 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe reviewed the progress in bilateral ties, including important projects, during their meeting here -- eight months after the two nations inked a landmark civil nuclear cooperation pact.

The Modi-Abe meeting comes as the navies of the two nations, along with the US, are engaged in a major naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal, where some of their frontline warships are deployed. China has been watching the Malabar trilateral exercise with unease.

Japan's bullet-train technology is being used by India for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor in western India, besides Japan is India's largest bilateral donor. Japan is possibly the only country involved in connectivity projects in India's northeast, where some states share a border with China.

"The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister's (Modi's) visit in November 2016," the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement following the meeting between the two leaders on Friday.

"Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then."

Modi also said that he looked forward to Abe's visit to India later this year for the next annual bilateral summit and hoped that it would further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, according to the statement.

Japan is India's largest bilateral donor. Japanese Overseas Development Agency (ODA) supports India's efforts for accelerated economic development, particularly in priority areas like power, transportation, environmental projects and projects related to basic human needs.

The Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with 12 new industrial townships, and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor are all mega projects on the anvil.