Modi inclusive vision

                 Modi is one of only three people that Abe follows on Twitter, while the Indian

leader admires the Japanese premier's brand of nationalist politics."We will explore how

Japan can associate itself productively with my vision of inclusive development in India,"

Modi said before departing on Saturday for the five-day visit.

                He listed manufacturing, infrastructure and energy as key areas for cooperation. In

his previous role as chief minister of India's fast-growing western state of Gujarat Modi had

actively courted Japanese investment.

                Modi, is embarking on an intense month of diplomacy in which he will receive

Chinese President Xi Jinping before meeting U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington

as he seeks to carve out a stronger role for India as a global player.In Japan, he will lobby

for Abe to back a nuclear energy pact, although hopes of striking a similar accord to one

reached with the United States in 2008 had faded in the run-up to the visit.

               Japan wants explicit guarantees from India, which has not signed the nuclear non-

proliferation treaty, to limit atomic tests and allow closer inspection of its facilities to

ensure that spent fuel is not used to make bombs.

               Speaking to Japanese reporters, Modi addressed those concerns: "Our track

record of non-proliferation is impeccable," he said, adding that India would uphold a

"unilateral and voluntary" moratorium on explosive nuclear weapons testing.

               Also under discussion will be a proposal to formalize a 'Two Plus Two' format for

talks bringing together the foreign and defense ministers of both countries, reflecting

shared concerns about an increasingly assertive China.India's Prime Minister Narendra

Modi (front R) shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shin …

BUDDHISM AND BULLET TRAIN

                Modi was due to attend a dinner with Abe on Saturday evening in Kyoto, a city the

Indian leader associates with a Buddhist heritage shared by both Japan and India.Modi

also hopes that Kyoto will serve as a template for his vision of building 100 'smart' cities in

India - and to develop the ancient Indian holy city of Varanasi on the river Ganges that he

represents in parliament.At his next stop in Tokyo, Modi will seek to drum up the inward

investment he needs to bring to life the appeal to "Come, make in India" he made in a

speech this month to mark India's independence day.India, Asia's third-largest economy

after China and Japan, needs faster economic growth to create work for the one million

young people who enter the workforce every month.  more >>