No Nuke Deal, But Japan And India Agree To Boost Strategic Ties At Tokyo Summit

TOKYO: Japan and India agreed on Monday to strengthen strategic ties as Asia's second and third biggest economies keep a wary eye on a rising China, and agreed to accelerate talks on the possible sale of an amphibious aircraft to India's navy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi also agreed to speed up talks on a so-far elusive deal on nuclear energy cooperation.

"The two prime ministers reaffirmed the importance of defence relations between Japan and India in their strategic partnership and decided to upgrade and strengthen them," Abe and Modi said in a statement after a summit in Tokyo.

The two countries agreed to pursue comprehensive security and defence cooperation, including maritime security.

"Concerning economic matters, we have agreed to move towards a common goal of dramatically increasing Japan's investment in India," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on the occasion.

Dawn of a new era in India-Japan relations. Special Strategic & Global partnership launched. http://t.co/4QtN1qyBaw

— Syed Akbaruddin (@MEAIndia) September 1, 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Shinzo Abe for inviting him and said he was happy that within 100 days of becoming PM he got the opportunity to visit Japan.

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"The attention which Shinzo Abe accorded to me during this visit shows his love for India," Modi said adding, "the visit had raised hopes for the future."

Modi hailed Abe for announcing investment to the tune of $ 35 billion and said, " PM Abe has understood my vision and assured support in various sectors."

On the nuclear deal, Shinzo Abe said, "I had frank discussion on this issue, we are able to deepen our understanding on both sides."

PM Modi : Japan & India are the two most important democracies of India. Our ties will have an effect in Asia & World pic.twitter.com/A31tzSDuAJ

— ANI (@ANI_news) September 1, 2014

(With inputs from Reuters)