India Japan Ties | 07 Sep 2022

The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilizational ties. Indian culture, filtered through Buddhism, has had a great impact on Japanese culture, and this is the source of the Japanese people's sense of closeness to India.

Bilateral ties have been singularly free of any kind of dispute – ideological or territorial. India -Japan peace treaty was one of the first peace treaties Japan signed after World War II.

Even though India and Japan have exchanged defense ideas for almost two decades and declared a shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free, as partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue along with the US and Australia, their bilateral cooperation is still lacking. US-China interference in the Indo-Pacific prevented both sides from implementing their desired strategic objectives.

What is the State of India's Relations with Japan?

• Defense Ties: India-Japan Defence and Security partnership has evolved over the years from bilateral and multilateral exercises including Dharma Guardian and Malabar respectively. And welcoming the participation of Japan for the first time in exercise MILAN.
  • Tri-Service Exchanges between Japan and India have been institutionalized completing the triad. Coast Guards have had regular annual exchanges since 2006. Including, Japan and India Vision 2025 Special Strategic and Global Partnership - working together for peace and prosperity of the indo-pacific region and the world.
• Economic Ties: A test of the reliability of Japan as a friend was witnessed in 1991 when Japan was among the few countries that bailed India out of the balance of payment crisis.
  • In recent years, the economic relationship between Japan and India has steadily expanded and deepened. The volume of trade between the two countries has increased. Japan was the 12^th largest trading partner for India in 2020.
  • Also, direct investment from Japan to India has increased, and Japan was the 4^th largest investor in India in FY2020.
• Health-Care: In view of the similarities and synergies between the goals and objectives of India's AYUSHMAN Bharat Programme and Japan’s AHWIN, both sides had been consulting with each other to identify projects to build the narrative of AHWIN for AYUSHMAN Bharat.
• Investment and ODA: India has been the largest recipient of the Japanese Official Development Assistance(ODA) Loan for the past decades. Delhi Metro is one of the most successful examples of Japanese cooperation through the utilization of ODA.
  • India’s Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project is funded by a soft loan provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency under Special terms for economic partnership (STEP).
  • Besides, Japan and India had committed to build a High-Speed Railways in India by introducing Japan’s Shinkansen System.
  • India Japan Nuclear Deal 2016 will help India build the six nuclear reactors in southern India, increasing nuclear energy capacity ten-fold by 2032.

What are the Roadblock to Strengthen India-Japan Ties?

• Rising China’s Dominance: China does not shy away from making efforts to block the rise of India and Japan, including by stepping up military pressure on them and opposing their UN Security Council’s permanent membership.
• Influence of China-America Rivalry: The intensification of Chinese-American rivalry contributes to disturbance of regional security in the Indo-Pacific.
  • The region is militarised and an arms race is taking place, military exercises and manoeuvres are systematically occurring in disputed waters that ultimately affects peace and prosperity for the region, especially for countries like India and Japan.
• Domestic Issues in Japan: Japan is in the midst of a massive domestic debate over the revision of its national security and defence strategies, which has resulted in the assimilation of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

What Should be the Way Forward?

• Curbing the Hegemony in India-Pacific: India and Japan are required to transform their military strategy and build on the common interest in preventing the rise of a securing hegemony in the Indo-Pacific (US and China).
• Putting Hands Together for Digital Empowerment: With a view to enhancing digital infrastructure through promotion of joint projects for digital transformation, India and Japan can shake hands for digital infrastructure cooperation in various fields like 5G, Open RAN, Telecom Network Security, submarine cable systems, and Quantum Communications.
• Strengthening India’s Act East Policy: India has always placed the ‘Indo-Pacific’ at the heart of its engagement with the countries of Southeast and East Asia. For deriving effective solutions to contemporary challenges, India's Act East Policy must be strengthened.
  • Japan also endeavours to cooperate in supporting strategic connectivity linking South Asia to Southeast Asia through the synergy between ''Act East'' policy and ''Partnership for Quality Infrastructure.''
• Knowledge Exchange for Disaster Risk Reduction: India can benefit from Japan's disaster management experience in developing disaster risk reduction policies and measures in disaster-prone areas.
• Towards Multipolar Asia: By reshaping their Asian strategic landscape, India and Japan has the potential to catalyse their emergence as world powers, and march towards a open and secure Indo-Pacific.