Right after returning from the three-day trip to China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed the Indian leader Narendra Modi to his vacation home at the foot of Mount Fuji.
They agreed on resuming a currency swap accord to the tune of $75 billion and more than ¥300 billion in yen loans to finance India’s infrastructure projects including a high-speed railway using Japan’s Shinkansen system.
The key for Japan-India relations going forward will be whether the two countries can elevate their ties to new stages on the basis of their latest agreements, instead of as a counterweight to China’s rise. Abe hailed Japan-India ties as having “the largest potential for development for any bilateral relationship anywhere in the world.”
Whether the two countries can realize that potential will be tested from now.