India on Friday hit back on a former Japanese minister’s statement blaming New Delhi for delays in the high-speed bullet train project, calling it “an individual opinion” at “considerable variance with facts”.
Event Context
Hideki Makihara, who is Japan’s former Justice Minister and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, had blamed India for delays in the Indo-Japanese Shinkansen project.
Player Focus
“India-Japan discussions on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train are progressing well. Japan will provide the E10 series train in the early 2030s. The train is still under development. Meanwhile, construction work has rapidly progressed. The first section will be opened in 2027. Therefore, both sides agreed to start the operations with the Indian high-speed train. The project execution is in line with the common goal of starting the high-speed train project at the earliest,” the MEA statement read.
Team Analysis
“The Shinkansen project in India is something I was involved with myself, but what stood out in international meetings and negotiations was the sheer recklessness of the Indian side, repeated over and over. They just don’t keep promises, no matter what. Even if they make a promise, they flip it right away,” he wrote.
Makihara also blamed the minister-in-charge for being ‘awful’.
“They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful—if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings. For the honour of all the Japanese folks who poured their hearts into this, I have to say it: I feel 100% that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is entirely on the Indian side,” he added.
The ministry of external affairs rejected Hideki Makihara’s claims on Friday, saying it was an “individual opinion” and at a “considerable variance with facts”.
“We have seen the post. This is an individual opinion and is at considerable variance with facts. India-Japan discussions on Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR are progressing well,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing.
Match Outlook
Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that India will begin operations of the first phase of its first bullet train service from August 15, 2027. Vaishnaw said the speed rail corridor will open in phases, beginning with the Surat–Bilimora section.
In a later written statement, the MEA gave a progress report on the bullet train project.
