Japan, India to fast-track economic cooperation

Japan and India today agreed to strengthen bilateral security cooperation and decided to hold regular junior minister-level dialogues between foreign policy and defence officials of the two countries.

The Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama meeting the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi

At their meeting in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Japanese premier Yukio Hatoyama also decided to speed up negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the two countries.

The two prime ministers have asked officials to speed up negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) / Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and called on negotiators to work towards resolving the remaining issues at the earliest.

Japan, on its part, will continue to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA), which, both leaders agreed, would play a significant role in India's poverty reduction, economic and social infrastructure development, tackling environmental issues and human resource development.

The two also confirmed speeding up talks on an economic partnership agreement between the two countries and the early conclusion of a Japan-aided freight railway project that will link New Delhi and Mumbai.

They also confirmed their commitment to the Copenhagen Accord, a new climate deal that calls for developed countries to set out greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2020 and for developing countries to take actions to mitigate climate change. Hatoyama said it was imperative to move towards an equitable and legally-binding treaty.