Indo-Japan relations
India and Japan have held a closely aligned world-view. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi now heads to Japan for meetings with his Japanese counterpart,
Shinzo Abe. President Donald Trump’s recent actions are impacting both countries in different
ways. For India, the impact is more
direct.
India and Japan must closely cooperate on how to manage these challenges
from the U.S. while maintaining their growing security ties with Washington, as
members of the trilateral and quadrilateral formations in the Indo-Pacific. The other common concern is managing an
increasingly influential China. Abe will meet Modi a day after he returns from
a visit to Beijing, the first by a Japanese Prime Minister in seven years.
On the bilateral front, there are several loose ends that Modi and Abe
will work to tie up. The Shinkansen bullet train project is an example. India and Japan have stepped
up military exchanges. However, there has been little movement on the pending
purchase of ShinMaywa US-2 amphibian aircraft.
Japanese investment has grown several-fold in India. Japan and India are
good trading partners. While both countries share a common heritage of
Buddhism, the peoples of both countries have cordial relationship. Both
countries are in good terms with Korea and Russia, two major power bases in the
world. PM of Japan Shinzo Abe visited India recently and is in administration
of India by Modi. There are common concerns for both countries in light of
Trump's action of banning Iranian goods, export excise, as well as the U.S.’s
exit from several multilateral and security regimes are impacting both
countries in different ways. Shinzo Abe has returned from trip to China, a
major super power in the world. Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping of China
were engaged in conversations to improve relations between the two countries.
China has increased its import of Japanese tools of manufacturing. This has
major impact on the neighbouring countries like India. Modi might request
Shinzo Abe for more Japanese investment in India by Japan.
The world order keeps changing from time to time. Geopolitics does depend
upon the attitude of the political leaders. New policies and new strategies
need to be formulated to minimize the U.S's recent actions. The effected nations
should be strong enough. Regional blocks can bridge the gap to some extent as
the world order does depend upon several factors.
Japan is a friendly nation without changing that stand for a long time
and India can share its concern with US and China to Japan a strategic
partner.US tariff war and economic sanction on Iran oil to India are high
headwinds affecting the nations twin deficits. China on the other side wants
India's participation in belt and road initiatives. The emerging North Korea
with unregulated nuclear tests is a common headache to the global peace. Hence
both countries could take stock of the situations on their roles in geo
political affairs and bilateral dealings in specific.
Japan no longer considers itself tied to the USA as India continues to
be. India's relation to the USA is best compared to that of Saudi Arabia, and
is best illustrated by the fact that Saudi Arabia is the largest and India the
second largest importer of US arms, both countries playing the vital role of
keeping hundreds of thousands of US defence sector jobs alive. But Japan, more
grown up in its approach, has recognised that China has the lead over it in
many ways and is willing to take Chinese declarations of friendship at face
value. India, on the contrary, though it now has a BJP and not a Nehru Congress
government, refuses to forget the 1962 Indo-China war, lost by Nehru. It
refuses therefore to believe that China does not want India as a second enemy
in its trade or armed conflicts with the USA.
No comments:
Post a Comment