After Jinping, Modi to host Japan's Abe in Gandhinagar next week

September 09, 2017 08:37

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Gandhinagar, instead of Delhi, on September 14, sources told The Indian Express.

This will mark the second time that Modi will be hosting a visiting leader and holding bilateral talks in Gandhinagar -- the last time was his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2014.

Three years ago, when Xi was hosted on the banks of the Sabarmati river, the standoff at Chumar was ongoing. This time, almost three weeks after the disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, Abe is the first foreign leader to visit the country.

Japan was the only major country which conveyed its unequivocal support to India and Bhutan through diplomatic channels during the Doklam standoff.

Sources said Modi and Abe would hold talks in Gandhinagar and take part in the ground-breaking ceremony (bhoomi pujan) for the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, commonly referred to as the bullet train project, which is estimated to cost Rs 98,000 crore. The ceremony will be held at a site near the Sabarmati railway station in the city.

When Modi visited Japan in November last year, Abe travelled with him to Kobe in a bullet train. During Modis earlier visit in September 2014, Abe flew down to Kyoto to receive him, and the two leaders then went to Tokyo for a bilateral meeting.

During Abes last visit to India in 2015, he and Modi travelled to Varanasi and witnessed the Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat. Sources said Abe has visited Delhi at least a dozen times in the past, and the PM wanted to take him out of Delhi.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Kerala woman cadet onboard ship seized by Iran returns home

At the airport, Joseph was received by the regional passport officer.

SC sets aside T'gana HC order declaring 106 acre of forest land as private

The humans have "selective amnesia" about the significance of forests, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while advocating the need for a change in approach towards natural resources from anthropocentric to ecocentric.

'Sun will rise tomorrow!' Curran vows PBKS' turnaround

Stand-in captain Sam Curran lauded the efforts of Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh, who displayed remarkable composure in a high-pressure chase.

Hardik admits MI nerves 'tested' in thrilling win

The MI skipper was full of praise for Ashutosh's whirlwind knock, which kept PBKS in the hunt till the end.

Shooters surveyed Salman's Panvel farmhouse before Bandra house attack

Two men arrested for firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai had conducted a survey of his farm house at Panvel in adjoining Raigad district four days before the shooting incident, police said on Thursday.