Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first high speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Sep 14, 2017. PM Modi addressed a public meeting on the same occasion and reiterated the ambition and will power of the new India. He said that the bullet train will provide the speed and progress that India has been waiting for. The PM went on to say that focus of the project was to increase productivity via high speed connectivity. Modi didn’t forget to appreciate Japan’s technical and financial help for the project. The project will not only bring Mumbai and Ahmedabad closer, but also bring the people living hundreds of kilometres away closer to each other. The Prime Minister also informed that a new economic system is being developed along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, thus making the entire area a single economic zone. “Technology is useful only if it provides benefit to the common man,” said PM Modi. The project will not only benefit the Indian railways, but also give a boost to the Make in India campaign. The project will be eco-friendly and the high-speed corridor would be the regions of rapid growth in the future. The PM expressed his confidence that people would work together to finish the project in the shortest possible time.
Read More »India, Japan sign open sky agreement
India and Japan have signed an agreement that will allow their airlines to operate unlimited number of flights between the two countries. The pact followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe holding strategic discussions on a wide range of issues. An official release said India and Japan exchanged RoD (Record of Discussions) on civil aviation cooperation with respect to open sky. “It opens skies between India and Japan ie. Indian and Japanese carriers can mount now unlimited number of flights to the selected cities of each other’s countries,” the release said. The National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, allows the government to enter into an ‘open sky’ air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi. Currently, Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines — fly into India while Air India and Jet Airways -1.60 % operate services to Japan. ast year India signed open sky agreements with Greece, Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka. India also has open sky agreement with the US, among other countries. Last week, full service carrier Vistara had announced plans to enter into a code share partnership with Japan Airlines by next year. Vistara is also likely to unveil plans for international operations soon and Japan is on the radar, it had said. (Source: PTI)
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