India on Friday strongly rejected remarks made by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara, who blamed New Delhi for delays in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) attributed his remarks to a personal opinion and not the facts of the Indo-Japanese bullet train project.
But, in a statement on the social media page, hideki Makihara, former Minister in the former Japanese government, and member of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that the delays in the Shinkansen project are all being blamed by the Indian side. He said that Indian government had breached promises made during the negotiations and the minister has been acting selfishly during the project-related discussions.
During the bilateral talks, Makihara said he feels the project has not been forward-looking due to Indian approach, pointing out that he is representing the old Japan to the project’s team and is disappointed.
In response to the allegations in his media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said it only covers the views of the ex-minister.
“We have seen the post. This is an individual opinion and is at considerable variance with facts. The talks with the Japanese on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR have made significant progress, Jaiswal said.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, India’s first bullet train project, is being developed with Japanese technical and financial assistance using Shinkansen technology. Despite difficulties with land acquisition, COVID-19 and construction time, both countries have worked closely on the project on an uninterrupted basis.
Despite being criticized by the former Japanese minister, the MEA’s reply states that the Indian and Japanese work on the ambitious infrastructure project is continuing along the lines and they are continuing the process of discussion and implementation.