'Not just high speed trains, India wants high speed growth', says PM Modi after welcoming Abe

New Delhi: Not just high speed train, India wants high speed growth, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing top business leaders at the India-Japan Business Leaders Forum in New Delhi, soon after welcoming Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the summit on Saturday.

Modi said, "I am glad that Japan is assisting with Make in India. I have been told that Japan has set aside a 12 billion US dollars fund specifically on Make in India and it is a proud moment for us that for the first time Japan will import Maruti Suzuki cars from India."

Modi said, "India is a land of possibilities with excellent human resources and a technological base and Japan has been there at every turning point. The growth in Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers reflects that India is a country of opportunities."

Speaking at the forum, PM Abe said, "PM Narendra Modi's economic policies are like Shinkansen-High speed (high-speed railway network lines in Japan), safe and reliable and carrying many people along. A strong India is good for Japan and a strong Japan is good for India". "His (Modi) speed of implementing policies is like a bullet train," Abe said.

During their summit meeting, the two leaders are expected to seal a Rs 98,000 crore deal for India's first bullet train track and deliberate on a civil nuclear pact. The bullet train network will link Mumbai with Ahmedabad and is expected to cut travel time on the 505 kilometer route from eight hours to around three.

Welcoming PM Abe, PM Modi had in a tweet described him as a "phenomenal leader" and said his trip would further deepen bilateral relations.

"Welcome to India @AbeShinzo. Your visit will provide new strength and vigour to India-Japan ties," Modi tweeted.

The focus of the visit will be on forging greater synergies between two major Asian economies and take forward the special strategic ties.

Abe also met President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan. "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met President Pranab Mukherjee today," the official Twitter account of Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Abe will also visit Varanasi, which Modi's Lok Sabha constituency. Both the leaders will attend Ganga aarti at the famous Dasaswamedh Ghat.

Modi had visited Japan from August 30 to September 3 in 2014 and then both the countries had announced doubling of its private and public investment in India to about US dollars 34 billion over a period of five years.