Gujarat likely to gain from Maruti stir in Haryana

NEW DELHI: It's a sign of the times — is Haryana's loss Gujarat's gain? On Thursday, Japan issued a tough message against the Haryana government demanding action against the perpetrators of violence at the Maruti plant in Manesar.

On Friday, Tokyo is getting ready to welcome Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to Japan. Modi will be in Japan from Sunday "to further strengthen the ties between the state of Gujarat and Japan in the context of the global strategic partnership which Japan and India enjoy".

Maruti is believed to be moving to Gujarat as well because of its continuing troubles in Haryana. Gujarat was also the go-to state for Ratan Tata when West Bengal gave him short shrift over Nano in Singur.

But Modi's ties with Japan go further. As the first G-8 country to invite him after his visa bans, Modi has made Japanese investment in Gujarat a top priority. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor (DMIC) traverses through a large part of Gujarat, and reports say Japanese companies are planning to invest in several townships there.

A Japan embassy statement said Modi would be meeting ministers, members of the Diet, prefectural governors and eminent business leaders of Japan. He will also attend investment promotion seminars in Tokyo, Hamamatsu and Nagoya organized by JETRO.-TOI-