New Delhi: The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor project, India’s first bullet train project has not progressed at the rate Japan had expected, a senior official of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Hindu on Monday (September 28.While admitting that Japan was not in a position to declare a completion date for the Rs 1.08 crore project due to the delay, it is now reportedly making “steady progress.”“I have to admit the timeline has not lived up to our expectations as originally envisaged,” the official said,” Both sides are committed to bringing high-speed trains to India, among other things. Construction of high-speed infrastructure is also developing steadily on the ground both in Mumbai and Gujarat, and we hope high-speed trains will start to move in a few years in India.”The project is being implemented by the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) with Official Development Assistance (ODA) Loan assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Around 81% of the project’s financial cost will be borne by the Japanese government through JICA, while the remaining will be paid by the Government of India.The project commenced on September 14, 2017, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid its foundation stone in a ceremony at Ahmedabad. It envisions a high-speed train running at a speed of 320 km/h, cutting down the journey time between the two state capitals to roughly two hours and seven minutes. The train will have 10 stops, including Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Ahmedabad and will terminate at Sabarmati.On the topic of disputed territories, the official maintained that all countries “must respect international maritime laws in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.”India and Japan are scheduled to hold a “two plus two” dialogue by the end of the year, the Hindu has reported.The official’s statements follow former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara’s comments months prior, where he called out the alleged “recklessness” of Indian officials as the cause behind the high-speed rail project’s delay.“I don’t want to endorse any comments outside of the negotiation,” the official noted when asked about Makihara’s comments.