Prime Minister arrives in Japan on three-day visit

Tokyo: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tokyo on a three-day visit to Japan to invigorate bilateral strategic ties and push for a civil nuclear energy cooperation deal.

Official sources in the Indian side dismissed reports of India going slow on ties with Japan so as not to annoy China.

Singh’s visit, originally scheduled for November last year, was postponed following the announcement of general elections in Japan in December.

In his departure statement in New Delhi, Singh said he proposed to invigorate India’s relations with Japan in the political, security and energy spheres.

Singh said in his summit with the new government of Japan led by “good friend” Abe, he will build on the momentum imparted by successive summits to the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership.

“My visits to Japan and Thailand will add depth and new meaning to our ‘Look East’ policy and contribute to peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific,” he said while describing Japan as a “key regional and global partner for India”.

Singh will also travel to Thailand on a two-day visit from May 30.