Japanese PM calls on India to forge a broader Asia

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday called for a partnership of democracies to form a broader Asia, incorporating the United States and Australia.

New Delhi, Aug 22 : Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday called for a partnership of democracies to form a "broader Asia", incorporating the United States and Australia.

"By Japan and India coming together in this way, this 'broader Asia' will evolve into an immense network spanning the entirety of the Pacific Ocean, incorporating the United States of America and Australia," said Abe while addressing a joint session of the Indian Parliament.

"This partnership is an association in which we share fundamental values such as freedom, democracy and respect for basic human rights as well as strategic interests," Abe said in a speech that did not mention the word "China".

While Abe said that Japan has improved ties with China, he also stressed the need to forge closer links with democracies in what analysts have said was a tacit criticism of Beijing.

Abe is in India on a three-day visit.

India is using his visit to woo much-needed investments to build infrastructure projects from transport to civilian nuclear power.

Tokyo has sought to build closer security ties with the United States, Australia and India, and its navy plans to take part for the first time in joint US-India exercises to be held in the Bay of Bengal in September.

According to Japanese officials, Tokyo is considering offering low-interest loans to help build a high-speed freight rail link between New Delhi and Mumbai as well as funds for a 90 billion dollars industrial corridor between the two cities.

The aim is to boost Indian manufacturing by helping make use of its cheap workforce while solving one of the bugbears of India's economy -- its poor infrastructure and transportation.

Abe also pledged to double bilateral trade to 20 billion dollar by 2010.

Japan is India's tenth-largest trade partner, as Japan's firms have focused on China and Southeast Asia.

The visit comes just as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faces a huge political crisis as Leftist allies tried to block a civilian nuclear deal with the United States that the government and many business leaders says is crucial for India's economy.

And while Singh was expected to seek Japan's support for a controversial nuclear energy deal with the United States, Abe was likely to remain non-committal, given the sensitivity of the issue in Japan.

ANI