Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Kyoto.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a four-day official visit to Japan, met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at a state guest house in Kyoto on Saturday. PM Modi, 63, had arrived at the Kansai International Airport near Osaka, western Japan, around 2 in the afternoon.
Here's your 10-point cheat-sheet to what's on the PM's agenda.
PM Modi had dinner with Mr Abe ahead of formal bilateral talks in Tokyo, scheduled to be held on Monday. An official agreement has been signed between Varanasi and Kyoto to facilitate cultural exchanges between both sides. Kyoto is a world class city of the kind the Prime Minister wants to replicate in Varanasi, the city that had elected him to Parliament, sources say. (On Day One of PM's Visit, India and Japan Sign Cultural Agreement on Varanasi-Kyoto)
Tomorrow, PM Modi will visit historic sites and an academic institution in Kyoto before moving to Tokyo for meetings on Monday with Japanese government and business leaders, including a summit with Mr Abe, a foreign ministry official said.
Both premiers are right-wing nationalists elected on a pledge to revive their countries' economies, and lead countries embroiled in territorial disputes with China. The United States, Japan's key ally, is concerned about Beijing's growing economic and military clout, and would welcome a closer relationship between New Delhi and Tokyo, which geographically bookend China. (Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe: A Rare Affinity)
In a statement released yesterday, PM Modi said he is keenly looking forward to the visit. Calling Japan one of India's "closest partners in political, economic, security and cultural realms," he added that he is confident that his visit will "write a new chapter in the annals of the relations between Asia's two oldest democracies and take our strategic and global partnership to the next higher level." (PM Modi's Full Statement on his Visit to Japan)
Mr Modi is traveling with a large delegation studded with some of India's biggest industrialists including software giant Wipro's Azim Premji. The PM will seek Japanese support in infrastructural developments.
This could include Japanese investment for the high-speed 'bullet' trains that the PM has promised. His government has said the country's dilapidated railways needed an "immediate course correction". (To Tokyo With Love: PM Narendra Modi Tweets in Japanese Ahead of Key Visit)
India is hoping to win Japanese backing for a nuclear energy pact and lure investment into its $85 billion market while addressing Japan's concern about nuclear proliferation.
India has been pushing for an agreement with Japan on the lines of a 2008 deal with the United States under which Delhi was allowed to import U.S. nuclear fuel and technology without giving up its military nuclear programme.But Japan wants explicit guarantees from India, which has not signed the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, to strictly limit nuclear tests and to allow more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities to ensure that spent fuel is not diverted to make bombs. An agreement is not expected to be sealed at the bilateral summit, but progress in negotiations is likely. .('Eagerly Waiting for Your Arrival': Japan's Shinzo Abe to Narendra Modi)
The two leaders will agree to have their countries jointly produce mixed rare earth minerals and metals, key elements in defence industry components and modern technology.
Mr Modi and host Prime Minister Abe are also expected to strengthen defence ties, speeding up talks on the sale of an amphibious aircraft to the Indian navy.
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