PM returns home after Japan visit

"Sayonara Japan! An important friendship stands strengthened as PM @narendramodi enplanes from Osaka for the journey back to Delhi," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had tweeted on departure.

Before his departure, Modi addressed a luncheon gathering of business leaders in Kobe, a city on Osaka Bay.

He also travelled in Japan's famed high-speed Shinkansen bullet train, which is being introduced in India on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad stretch, with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

During the visit, India and Japan signed 10 pacts covering a range of areas such as boosting Japanese investment in infrastructure, railways, and for cooperation in space and agriculture, as part of agreements to bolster bilateral ties.

Shedding its reservations, Japan yesterday made an exception to sign a landmark civil nuclear deal with India, opening the door for export of its atomic technology and reactors, after adding features like safety and security keeping in mind its sensitivities on the issue.

The nuclear deal, described as historic by Prime Minister Modi, was part of the ten agreements signed between the two countries.

Modi and Abe held wide-ranging talks which covered aspects like trade and investment, security, terrorism, cooperation in skill development, aerospace and people-to-people contacts.