NEW DELHI: India on Friday firmly rejected claims by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara that New Delhi was responsible for delays in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project, describing his remarks as an "individual opinion" that was "at considerable variance with facts" and asserting that the flagship India-Japan venture was progressing as planned.
Makihara, a former justice minister and a member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, had alleged in a social media post that India's handling of the Shinkansen project was marked by broken commitments and poor negotiations.
He also claimed India had sidelined Japan from the project's signalling system despite Tokyo's long-standing role in the high-speed rail venture.
"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.
He went on to criticise the Indian leadership overseeing the project, saying:
"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."
Referring to the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Makihara claimed there had been no concrete progress on the Shinkansen project and alleged that Japan had been "excluded from the signal system, the key to safety".
Responding to the remarks, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed them as unrepresentative of the bilateral engagement between the two countries.
"We have seen the post that has been referred to. It is an individual opinion and at considerable variance with facts. India-Japan discussions on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train project are, in fact, progressing well. Japan will provide E10 series trains, but only in early 2030s," he said during a weekly media briefing.
Jaiswal said the next-generation E10 Shinkansen trains were still under development and that both countries had agreed to begin operations with indigenously built high-speed trains because construction of the corridor had progressed rapidly.
"The train in question is still under development. Meanwhile, construction work has rapidly progressed. First section will be opened in 2027 itself. Therefore, both sides agreed to start the operations with Indian high speed train," he said.
Rejecting Makihara's allegation that Japan had been excluded from the signalling system, Jaiswal said no Japanese proposal had been received for that component of the project.
"The signalling equipment has been ordered accordingly and is in line with international specifications. No Japanese offer was received in this context. The project execution is in line with the common goal of starting the high speed train project at the earliest," he said.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier announced that the first phase of India's maiden bullet train service would begin operations on August 15, 2027, with the Surat-Bilimora stretch becoming the first operational section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor.
Japan remains a key partner in the project, providing financial assistance as well as technology and engineering expertise.
While India plans to deploy domestically built high-speed trains during the initial phase, Japan is expected to supply its next-generation E10 series Shinkansen trains in the early 2030s.
The project, one of the most significant infrastructure collaborations between the two countries, is expected to be rolled out in phases.