Japanese PM Shinzo Abe arrives in Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 11: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived here on Friday on a three-day official visit amid expectations that a pact will be firmed up on India's first bullet train and over progress in the talks on a civil nuclear deal.

Abe was received by Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.

Abe will hold the annual summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. He will call on President Pranab Mukherjee, address the Japan-India Innovation Seminar and meet business leaders.

Another highlight is Abe's trip to Varanasi on Saturday where he will attend the Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat. Modi will accompany Abe to his Lok Sabha constituency.

At the last summit meeting in Tokyo in 2014, India and Japan agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to "special strategic and global partnership".

Modi and Abe met last month on the sidelines of the 13th Asean-India Summit at Kuala Lumpur and during the Paris climate change conference.

The proposed bullet train line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would cost Rs.98,000 crore, according to a joint project feasibility study, co-financed by the Indian Railways and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

There are also speculations over a civil nuclear deal for which negotiations are on.

India sees Japan as an important player in the nuclear energy sector, with major Japanese firms manufacturing components for related equipment.

IANS