Hope to enjoy beautiful scenery of India from bullet train on next visit to India: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday said that he hopes to enjoy the scenery from bullet train on his next visit to India after he laid the foundation stone for India's first bullet train at a ground at Sabarmati in Ahmedabad.

"I hope to enjoy the beautiful scenery of India through the windows of the bullet train when I come back here in a few years," Abe said after laying the foundation stone of the project.

On the occasion, Abe also said the Indo-Japan partnership is special, strategic and global. "A strong India is in Japan's interest and a strong Japan is in India's interest."

"My good friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a far-sighted leader. He took a decision two years ago to bring high-speed train in India and to create a new India," he said.

"If we merge Japan's Ja and India's I then it became 'Jai'. If we work together nothing is impossible," Abe said.

The Rs 1.10 lakh crore train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is expected to be completed by 2022. The train would cover the distance of over 500 km in around two hours.

Japan has extended a soft loan for the ambitious project conceptualized by Modi.

The project is a joint venture between Indian Railways and Japan's Shinkansen Technology.