India, Japan to ease visa rules, to conclude CEPA by 2010

New Delhi, Dec 29 : India and Japan Tuesday decided to ease visa rules within a year to spur trade and tourism as two of Asia's biggest economies agreed to conclude a key economic pact soon.

The issue of hassle-free visas and intensification of economic ties figured prominently in discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama.

"I requested Prime Minister Hatoyama to ensure that Japanese visa system becomes more liberal to enable faster growth of trade, investment and people to people contact," Manmohan Singh told reporters at a joint press conference here.

He said the Japanese prime minister had pointed out some "restrictive features" in the Indian visa system and he had promised to look into it.

"In order to facilitate two-way travel, they directed the concerned authorities to accelerate the consultation on simplification of visa procedures and to complete it within a year," a joint statement signed by the two leaders said.

India has introduced a visa on arrival scheme for tourists from five countries, including Japan, on an experimental basis.

Hatoyama wrapped up his three-day visit to India Tuesday, his first stand alone visit to an Asian country since his party's surprise victory in the August elections, that ended a five-decade-plus run of the Liberal Democratic Party. "I had a strong desire to come to India before the end of the year. I personally love India and the people of India," he said.

Trade and investment have gone up between the two countries since Tokyo eased sanctions imposed after India's 1998 nuclear tests, but the two leaders stressed that bilateral trade is nowhere near the potential.

With their broader strategic partnership on mind, underscored by the launch of a new security dialogue, the two leaders asked their respective negotiators to resolve issues to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Pact (CEPA) by next year.

"We have decided to expedite our negotiations on the CEPA in order to conclude a high quality and balanced agreement. We are hopeful that this can be completed in time for the next annual summit meeting," Manmohan Singh said.

Pitching for introducing the famed Japanese bullet trains in India, a business opportunity worth billions in future, Hatoyama said the USD 72 billion Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor and a dedicated freight corridor, planned with Japanese assistance, will bring benefits not only to India and Japan but also to the region and the world.

Manmohan Singh stressed that there was great scope for expansion of cooperation in the areas of urban infrastructure, high technology, and renewable and energy efficient technologies.

For the first time, Japan's investment in India (USD 5.22 billion) surpassed that of its investment in China (USD 3.65 billion). The two sides plan to scale up their bilateral trade, estimated to be around USD 13 billion last year, to USD 20 billion next year. But this figure hardly compares with Japan's two-way trade with China, which was estimated to be USD 266.8 billion in 2008.

--IANS