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Modi, Abe likely to arrive on December 15

By Rituraj Borthakur

GUWAHATI, Nov 27 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are likely to arrive in Guwahati on December 15 for their annual summit which will feature discussion on important bilateral issues. Though the itinerary of the summit is yet to be formally announced and officials were tight-lipped on it, sources said top police and civil officials of the State reviewed the preparations at a meeting last evening.

�The summit will be similar to the Modi-Xi summit at Mamallapuram. There will be a delegate session and a business session besides a one-to-one meeting between the two leaders,� a source told The Assam Tribune.

The delegate session is likely to be held at the Old DC�s Bungalow followed by dinner.

Both the leaders would arrive on December 15 evening at around 5 PM and they would be given a rousing welcome at the airport and at other places like Jalukbari and Maligaon en route to the hotel.

While Modi would be staying at Raddison Blu, Abe would spend the night Taj Vivanta.

�Both the leaders would go on a cruise on the Brahmaputra next morning around 8 am. The programme at the Old DC Bungalow is slated for later in the day, according to the tentative itinerary,� the source said.

Various cultural programmes have been lined up for the summit at both the posh hotels.

The government has instructed the agencies concerned to spruce up the Old DC�s Bungalow and the Brahmaputra river front, besides the city�s roads.

Modi and Abe would conclude the summit by a visit to Imphal on December 17. There they would visit the new Peace Museum which commemorates one of the fiercest battles of World War 2 in 1944 in which thousands of Japanese soldiers were killed.

Officials from the external affairs ministry have been frequently visiting the State to oversee the preparartions.

�Protocol teams are scouting the different venues and looking after the preparations,� the source said.

Abe�s visit to Assam also holds significance because the Assam government is keen on setting up a JETRO city, which will house manufacturing units of firms like Honda, on the lines of the Japanese Industrial Park at Neemrana in Rajasthan. Preliminary talks have already taken place.

The government has even identified a plot of 2,000 bighas at Nagarbera in Kamrup district for the project which is expected to see an investment of Rs 3,000 crore.

The Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) is a government-related organisation that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world.

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