New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS) Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama begins his three-day visit to India Sunday that will focus on expanding the security dialogue and adding greater economic content to the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Accompanied by his senior ministers and aides, Hatoyama will touch down in Mumbai Sunday afternoon.

He will interact with top Indian businessmen in Mumbai before heading to New Delhi for the fourth summit between the prime ministers of India and Japan in the last three years.

Manmohan Singh will host a dinner Monday evening for the 62-year-old Japanese leader, whose party swept the August polls, ending nearly a five-decade stranglehold of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan.

The two leaders will sit down for delegation-level talks Tuesday.

“The two prime ministers will discuss ways to expand, enhance and strengthen the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership. They will also discuss regional and global issues,” the external affairs ministry said here Friday while announcing Hatoyama’s visit.

The two leaders last met on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Thailand.

Hatoyama’s maiden trip to India comes against the backdrop of Tokyo’s bid to recast its relations in Asia and a desire to forge a stronger security and economic partnership with India, widely seen as an emerging Asian power along with China.

The visit will focus on giving a political push to free trade area negotiations and expanding the ambit of security cooperation between the two countries, said official sources.

The two countries signed a joint declaration on a security cooperation agreement during Manmohan Singh’s visit last year, the second country after the US with which Japan has signed such an agreement.

The two countries are close to firming up an action plan to add more content to this agreement, which will also include joint army exercises.

On the economic side, one can expect the two leaders to give a push to negotiations for a bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). In December 2006, the leaders of India and Japan had decided to launch negotiations for the conclusion of an EPA, but there is not much progress even after 12 rounds of negotiations.

During their meeting in Thailand, Manmohan Singh had stressed on the need for both sides to “become flexible” in order to finalise the EPA. The negotiation over the simplification of procedures for approving generic drugs is an important sticking point.

The Japanese government is a major partner in India’s largest infrastructure project, the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) linking Mumbai with Delhi and the eastern corridor linking West Bengal with Punjab. Linked to this is the project to build an industrial corridor along the Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor.

There is likely to be some announcement of more Japanese funds for the project during Hatoyama’s visit, the sources said.