Hatoyama arrives in Mumbai, starting 3-day visit to India

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MUMBAI, India, Dec. 27 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama arrived in Mumbai on Sunday, starting a
three-day visit to India during which he will meet with his Indian counterpart
Manmohan Singh to deepen bilateral ties, particularly in the economic sphere.
Later in the day in Mumbai, the South Asian country's largest city by
population, Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki laid flowers and signed a condolence
book at a hotel where scores of people were gunned down in a terror attack in
November 2008.
Hatoyama will hold talks with business leaders in Mumbai on Monday before
moving to New Delhi later in the day for talks with Singh on Tuesday.
''I want to deepen discussions on various issues including disarmament, nuclear
issues, climate change and the economy,'' Hatoyama told reporters at the prime
minister's office in Tokyo prior to his departure.
''I hope to advance cooperative relations (with India) in a way to benefit
Japan's interests as India is a country with very high growth potential,'' he
said.
At the summit, Hatoyama and Singh are expected to discuss ways to strengthen a
strategic partnership between the two countries, covering such topics as
security cooperation, an economic partnership agreement and climate change,
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
They are also likely to discuss Japan's support for the construction of a
freight railway linking New Delhi and Mumbai, they said.
The two leaders plan to issue a joint statement after their talks.
Japanese and Indian leaders have made reciprocal visits to each other's
countries since 2005. Singh visited Japan in October last year and New Delhi
requested that Japan's leader visit India this year.
Hatoyama is scheduled to return to Japan early Wednesday.
==Kyodo
2009-12-27 22:24:55