India and Japan agreed Friday to launch talks on an economic partnership agreement centered on lowering tariffs on bilateral trade, with Tokyo trying to make up for lost time as it tries to deepen business ties with India, whose economy is growing rapidly.
The talks will begin early next year, with the goal of wrapping up the pact by 2009, visiting visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, agreed in Tokyo.
The two leaders sealed the agreement in a joint statement signed Friday at the prime minister's office in Tokyo.