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

TIL Desk/World/New Delhi/ 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. 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.