JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER VISITS KOLKATA TO BOOST ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL TIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000256 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE 3 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PREL EINV ETRD EIND IN JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER VISITS KOLKATA TO BOOST ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL TIES 3 REF: KOLKATA 197, KOLKATA 54 KOLKATA 00000256 001.7 OF 002 ¶1. (U) ON AUGUST 23, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER ABE ARRIVED IN KOLKATA ACCOMPANIED BY A MORE THAN 120-MEMBER BUSINESS DELEGATION. JAPAN HAS INVESTED HEAVILY IN THE STATE OF W. BENGAL AND PROVIDED MILLION-DOLLAR LOANS FOR PROJECTS IN THE CHEMICALS AND ENERGY SECTORS AS WELL AS INFRASTRUCTURE. ABE WAS ALSO LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR JAPANESE COMPANIES IF A PROPOSED NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN THE STATE IS SET UP IN THE FUTURE. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HISTORICAL TIES, ABE USED THE VISIT TO STRENGTHEN THE GOODWILL BETWEEN JAPAN AND EAST INDIA BY OPENING A NEW FRIENDSHIP CENTER AND VISITING FAMILIES OF IMPORTANT BENGALI HEROES. ABE IS THE THIRD PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT KOLKATA IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, A SIGN THAT COUNTRIES ARE EAGER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN THIS PART OF INDIA, AND OF THE REALIZATION THAT CHIEF MINISTER BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA-MARXIST'S (CPM) RELATIONS WITH THE NATIONAL UNITED PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE (UPA) GOVERNMENT. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) ON AUGUST 23, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER ABE ARRIVED IN KOLKATA ACCOMPANIED BY A MORE THAN 120-MEMBER BUSINESS DELEGATION. THE DELEGATION INCLUDED COMPANIES REPRESENTING JAPAN'S INFRASTRUCTURE, FINANCIAL SERVICES, HEALTH AND ENERGY (INCLUDING NUCLEAR ENERGY) SECTORS. WEST BENGAL IS HOME TO THE LARGEST SINGLE JAPANESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) PROJECT IN INDIA -- MITSUBISHI'S USD 380 MILLION CHEMICALS PTA FACILITY IN HALDIA. THE COMPANY IS NOW INVESTING USD 370 MILLION MORE TO DOUBLE THE FACILITY'S CAPACITY TO PRODUCE 800,000 TONS (UP FROM THE PRESENT 400,000 TON) OF PTA, A PLASTIC INDUSTRY INTERMEDIATE. ¶3. (U) APART FROM COMMERCIAL FDI, THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT HAS INVESTED HEAVILY IN DEVELOPING WEST BENGAL'S INFRASTRUCTURE. THIS INCLUDES FOUR FLYOVERS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN AND AROUND KOLKATA (USD 15 MILLION) AND THE 900MW PUMP STORAGE ELECTRICITY GENERATING UNIT IN PURULIA (USD 650 MILLION). MOREOVER, JAPAN HAS PROVIDED A USD 12 MILLION LOAN TO THE WEST BENGAL STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD TO HELP IT REDUCE POWER TRANSMISSION AND LOSS.ALL THESE HAVE BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH SOFT LOANS FROM THE JAPAN BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (JBIC). IN ADDITION, JBIC IS NOW IN THE ADVANCED STAGES OF NEGOTIATION TO BUILD AN EAST-TO-WEST ROUTE FOR KOLKATA'S METRO RAILWAY SYSTEM (USD 600 MILLION). ABE REFERRED AS WELL TO PLANS FOR FUNDING A HIGH-SPEED FREIGHT RAILWAY LINK BETWEEN KOLKATA, MUMBAI AND NEW DELHI. THE NUMBER AND SCALE OF THESE PROJECTS HAS GENERATED SUBSTANTIAL GOODWILL FOR THE JAPANESE IN W. BENGAL. ¶4. (SBU) THE POSSIBILITY OF THE COSTAL TOWN OF HARIPUR BEING CHOSEN AS A SITE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT HAS GENERATED GREAT JAPANESE INTEREST IN W. BENGAL. AS A MEMBER OF THE NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP, JAPAN VIEWS ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE LEFT PARTIES - MORE SPECIFICALLY, CHIEF MINISTER BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE -- AS A MEANS OF PROMOTING NUCLEAR-RELATED BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS WITH JAPANESE COMPANIES IN THE FUTURE. ABE'S DELEGATION IN KOLKATA INCLUDED COMPANIES LIKE HITACHI AND MITSUI WHO ARE POTENTIAL SUPPLIERS OF TURBINES TO THE HARIPUR PROJECT. ¶5. (SBU) WHILE ABE SPOKE IN NEW DELHI IN TERMS OF BIG PICTURE ISSUES, SUCH AS ASIA'S SHARED SECURITY DOCTRINE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A RUPEE-YEN SWAP (REFTEL),IN KOLKATA HIS FOCUS WAS ON REKINDLING CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND SENTIMENTAL TIES. KOLKATA IS AN IMPORTANT GATEWAY FOR JAPANESE BUDDHIST TOURISTS VISITING WEST BENGAL'S NEIGHBORING STATE OF BIHAR, WHERE IMPORTANT BUDDHIST PILGRIMAGE SITES LIKE BODH GAYA, SARNATH AND NALANDA ARE LOCATED. THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE CHARITIES HAVE DONATED GENEROUSLY TO PRESERVE BUDDHIST HERITAGE IN BIHAR. ¶6. (U) IN KOLKATA, ABE VISITED THE NETAJI RESEARCH BUREAU AND PAID HOMAGE TO SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE WHO ALLIED WITH THE JAPANESE AGAINST THE BRITISH DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. BOSE IS A NATIONAL HERO IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY AND PAYING TRIBUTE TO BOSE SERVED AS A PUBLIC RELATIONS EXERCISE DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN GOODWILL BETWEEN BENGALIS AND JAPAN. IRONICALLY, LOCAL COMMUNISTS WHO EARLIER BRANDED BOSE AS A "RUNNING DOG OF TOJO," HAVE ALSO YIELDED TO POPULAR SENTIMENTS AND REHABILITATED BOSE'S IMAGE AS A WAR HERO AND PATRIOT. ABE ALSO WENT TO POET LAUREATE RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S HOUSE AND VISITED THE TAGORE MUSEUM. ABE ALSO USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN THE NEW BHARAT-JAPAN CULTURAL CENTRE: RABINDRA-OKAKURA BHAVAN. THE LARGE FACILITY TOOK THREE YEARS TO CONSTRUCT AND DWARFS OTHER SIMILAR INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL CENTERS, SUCH AS THE BRITISH COUNCIL, GERMANY'S MAX MUELLER BHAAN AND OUR AMERICAN CENTER. KOLKATA 00000256 002.3 OF 002 ¶7. (U) MORE CONTROVERSIALLY, ABE REKINDLED ANOTHER KOLKATA-TOKYO LINK BY EXPRESSING A DESIRE TO VISIT THE FAMILY OF JUSTICE RADHA BINOD PAL. PAL WAS A MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL FOR THE FAR EAST THAT TRIED JAPANESE WAR CRIMINALS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. JUSTICE PAL IS FAMOUS FOR BEING THE SOLE DISSENTER FROM THE TRIBUNAL'S GUILTY VERDICTS, SAYING THE JUDGMENTS WERE INVALID AND "VICTORS JUSTICE." ABES GRANDFATHER NOBUSUKE KISHI WAS JAPAN'S INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE MINISTER BETWEEN 1941 AND 1945. KISHI WAS IMPRISONED AS A SUSPECTED CLASS A WAR CRIMINAL FOR THREE YEARS, THOUGH UNLIKE TOJO AND OTHERS IN THE CABINET, HE WAS NEVER TRIED BY THE TRIBUNAL. KISHI LATER WENT ON TO BECOME JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER. ¶8. (U) ABE'S SIGNALING FOR GREATER COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGIC INVOLVEMENT WITH EASTERN INDIA WAS RECIPROCATED BY THE W. BENGAL CPM-LED LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT OF CHIEF MINISTER BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE. BHATTACHERJEE SKIPPED THE ONGOING COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA-MARXIST (CPM) CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING IN NEW DELHI TO RETURN TO KOLKATA TO HOST PRIME MINISTER. (NOTE: THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE WAS IN SESSION TO DISCUSS THE CPM POLITBURO'S OPPOSITION TO THE U.S.-INDIA 123 AGREEMENT ON CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION. END NOTE.) BHATTACHARJEE'S PRACTICAL INTEREST IN PROMOTING BENGAL-JAPANESE LINKS CLEARLY OVERCAME POSSIBLE IDEOLOGICAL CONCERNS ABOUT HOSTING A CONSERVATIVE JAPANESE PM WHOSE VISIT HIGHLIGHTED THE BENGALI LINKS TO THE FORMER IMPERIAL JAPAN. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: ABE'S VISIT TO KOLKATA IS THE THIRD SUCH VISIT BY A FOREIGN PRIME MINISTER TO THE CITY IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS, FOLLOWING THE VISITS BY ITALIAN PM ROMANO PRODI AND VIETNAMESE PM NGUYEN TAN DUNG (REFTELS). AS WITH PRODI, WHO LED A DELEGATION OF OVER 300 BUSINESS PEOPLE, A STRONG FACTOR IN ABE'S VISITING WEST BENGAL WAS THE GREAT COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL IN THE STATE AND REGION. JAPAN HAS ALREADY MADE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS WITH THE PRESENCE OF MITSUBISHI AND OTHER COMPANIES AND THE GOJ IS SEEKING TO FOSTER AN EVEN GREATER CORPORATE PRESENCE. ANOTHER FACTOR WAS THE REALIZATION BY THE GOJ THAT THE CPM HAS A SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL, AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE PRESENT IMPASSE OVER THE INDO-U.S. CIVIL NUCLEAR AGREEMENT. BHATTACHARJEE AND THE CPM LEADERS IN WEST BENGAL ARE SEEN TO BE MORE TRACTABLE AND USEFUL FOR THE INFLUENCE THAT THEY CAN BRING TO BEAR ON THE CPM AT THE CENTER TO POSSIBLY MODERATE COMMUNIST IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONS. GIVEN THE PRESENT POLITICAL DYNAMIC, ABE APPARENTLY BELIEVED THAT THE GREATEST POLITICAL BANG FOR THE YEN IS IN WEST BENGAL, AND SO KOLKATA WAS HIS ONLY DESTINATION OUTSIDE OF NEW DELHI ON HIS FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO INDIA. JARDINE B T #0256 N -- END OF ERRORED MESSAGE --