Officials from both sides are working on an agreement for the procurement of E10 bullet trains
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Miyagi in Japan this week to see the prototypes of the E10 bullet trains being manufactured at a plant may set the stage for India to procure the most advanced high-speed rolling stock, which the East Asian nation itself would launch in 2030.
With Modi and his counterpart in Tokyo, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, likely to visit the manufacturing plant, officials from both sides are working on an agreement for the procurement of E10 bullet trains, being developed by East Japan Railway Company, for the 508-kilometre Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor of India.
Modi will leave New Delhi on Thursday for an official visit to Japan. He and Ishiba will hold the 15th India-Japan annual summit on Friday.
“The 15th summit will give both the prime ministers the opportunity to do an in-depth review of the bilateral ties, take stock of progress in the last few years across multiple domains, and, of course, as is usual, exchange views on regional and global issues of importance,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told journalists in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“This will also be an opportunity to launch several new initiatives to build greater resilience in the relationship, and to respond to emerging opportunities and challenges.”
With Modi and Ishiba likely to explore Japan’s participation in future bullet train projects in India, beyond the one between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the summit in Tokyo on Friday might result in the launch of a next-generation mobility partnership, sources in New Delhi told DH.