Closer Ties, Material Gains
- Japan to invest on infrastructure of over $33 billion in next 5 years
- India-Japan agreement on commercial contract for production of rare earths
- Both sides to complete feasilibity study for Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway
- Japanese investment in Northeastern states to develop transport infrastructure
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No two backgrounds could be more different—Narendra Modi, with his humble, avowedly ‘chaiwallah’ origin and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, the grandson of an elite Japanese politician. Yet they seem to have much in common. Both are leaders of Asian democracies who today enjoy a comfortable majority in their respective parliaments and thus political stability—a rare feat in both India and Japan, with their series of coalition governments. In addition, both Modi and Abe are equally acknowledged to be business-friendly politicians who seem to have clear ideas on steps that need to be taken to...