The government in Japan will soon open a new currency-swap line with India as part of its second international financial agreement with Asian countries.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said in Tokyo that his government is negotiating an agreement with the Indian government. The new deal will be announced during the upcoming trip to India by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

According to sources in the Japanese government, the new swap line would be around $10 billion. The Japanese government is looking to increase its cooperation with India, which is the third largest economy in Asia after China and Japan.

The new deal would allow the Indian government to better respond to the financial crisis and the continuing fall of the Indian rupee. The Indian rupee has emerged as the worst performing currency in Asia this year.

Japan also entered into an agreement with China to promote direct trading of the yen and yuan without relying on the US dollar. It also agreed to purchase Chinese bonds for its foreign-exchange reserves. Japan has the world’s second biggest foreign-exchange reserves and is using them to aid Japanese firms make overseas acquisitions.