According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese government announced on the 22nd that Indian Prime Minister Modi will visit Japan from the 29th to the 30th.
Modi is expected to meet with Prime Minister Ishiba on the 29th and convey that the next Shinkansen being developed by JR East Japan, the "E10 series," will be adopted in India's first high-speed rail project. The two leaders are scheduled to visit Miyagi Prefecture on the 30th and coordinate on the direction of the Shinkansen inspection.
Japan and India are conducting "shuttle diplomacy" involving reciprocal visits by their leaders, which will be Modi's visit to Japan since May 2023. The meeting is also expected to confirm enhanced economic and security cooperation, such as building supply chains (supply networks) for strategic materials like semiconductors and critical minerals.
The construction of a high-speed rail by Japan for India mainly involves the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project, which is India's first high-speed rail line, 508 kilometers long, with a design speed of 320 km/h, using Japan's Shinkansen technology. The project was originally planned to open in 2023, but due to issues such as technical adaptation and political maneuvering, the completion date is now expected to be delayed until 2031, with the total cost continuously rising to approximately 3.5 trillion yen (about 32 billion US dollars).
Japan provides an 80% low-interest loan (annual interest rate of 0.1%, repayment period of 50 years), and plans to apply the E10 series Shinkansen train developed by East Japan Railway Company to this line. This train, produced by Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, is scheduled to be put into service in 2030.
India plans to build a high-speed rail network totaling 7,000 kilometers by 2047 (more than twice the total length of Japan's Shinkansen), and hopes that Japan will participate in more lines. Both sides plan to sign a "Next-Generation Mobility Partnership" agreement in August 2025 to further promote technology transfer and local production.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841250990251020/
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