By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Japan will seek to push their stalled nuclear talks and focus on expanding economic ties when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda touches down here next Tuesday for annual summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The two prime ministers will discuss steps to enhance the India-Japan strategic and global partnership,” the external affairs ministry said here while announcing the Japanese prime minister’s visit.
This will be Noda’s first visit to India since becoming the prime minister in September.
During their talks Dec 28, Manmohan Singh and Noda are expected to discuss a wide array of issues, including the prospects of civil nuclear cooperation, jointly combating piracy and terrorism, climate change, the global financial crisis and the evolving East Asia architecture.
The two leaders are expected to focus on reviving civil nuclear negotiations which stalled after the March 11 Fukushima radiation disaster. The two sides have already held three rounds of nuclear negotiations.
India is hoping that the next round of talks will be held early next year.
The two sides, who signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) earlirt this year, will also be looking to step up trade and investment. The two countries are looking to scaling up bilateral trade to $25 billion from $10.3 billion.
The Japanese prime minister’s visit comes at a time when Japanese companies are looking anew at India as a growing market and its burgeoning infrastructure needs. Japanese companies are looking to step up investment in diverse sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, machinery, electronics, infrastructure, high speed rail like bullet trains and power generation.