Updated

India and Japan have begun work on a high-speed train in the western Indian state of Gujarat, during a visit by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The "bullet" train will link Ahmadabad, the main commercial city in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's native state, to India's financial capital of Mumbai.

The 500-kilometer (310-mile) project will be financed by Japanese credit of $17 billion and is expected to be completed by 2022.

Talks between Modi and Abe are expected to focus on security at a time when both countries are considered about China.

The two countries will also announce progress on an Asia-Africa growth initiative to pool Indian and Japanese efforts to strengthen infrastructure in African countries.