OPINION: Indo-Japan ties: Attaining greater heights

India-Japan relations are all set to attain greater heights. New Delhi could use Tokyo to counter, in more effective ways, the challenges Beijing and Islamabad pose to India's territorial integrity

An unmistakable sign out of the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida held in New Delhi last month, is that relations between the two nations are headed towards attaining greater heights. Reports are that during this summit, Prime Minister Modi talked of "special strategic and global partnership... based on democratic principles and respect for international rule of law." The two sides reviewed progress in bilateral relations, especially in the areas of defence, digital technology, trade and investment and health, among others. They discussed the importance of reliable supply chains for semi-conductors and other critical technologies.

Knowledgeable sources say ever since he took over the government in Tokyo, Prime Minister Kishida has been all for better ties with India. During a speech to India's Parliament in 2007, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for Indian and Pacific Oceans to be seen as one strategic space and recognised the two nations' shared interests. During his talk in New Delhi last month, Kishida echoed the same Abe idea and said, "India is the place where the Free and Open Indo-Pacific came into being."

The sources say it is in the nature and pattern of India and Japan to grow closer to each other. Cultural exchanges between the two nations date back to the 6th century AD when Buddhism went to Japan from India via China and Korea. Indian monk Bodhisena arrived in Japan in 736 AD to spread the faith. Sanskrit is still used by some ancient Chinese priests who immigrated to Japan. Japanese thinker Okakura Tenshin was a friend to Rabindranath Tagore and Priyambada Banerjee.

During India's freedom struggle, the Japanese government supported Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA). Many Indian freedom fighters would in those days escape to stay in Japan. During World War II, over 2 million Indians participated in the war on the side of Japan (the Axis powers).

In modern times, India-Japan relations have been based on shared values and principles of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The successive governments in New Delhi and Tokyo have been inclined to boosting India-Japan relations. In 1952, Japan and India established official diplomatic relations between them. In 2000, during Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's visit to India, the two nations agreed to establish "Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st Century." In 2001, during Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's visit to Japan, the two nations signed "Japan-India Joint Declaration."

In April 2005, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited India and signed the joint statement "Japan-India Partnership in the New Asian Era: Strategic Orientation of Japan-India Global Partnership." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Japan in December 2006. This culminated in the signing of the "Joint Statement Towards Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership".

In 2014, Prime Minister Modi visited Japan. This visit resulted in several key agreements, including the establishment of a "Special Strategic Global Partnership". During Modi's visit to Japan in 2016 , India and Japan signed the "Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy." Other major breakthroughs Japan and India achieved in their relations during the Modi period include the mechanism of an annual prime ministerial-level summit and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement.

Today Japan is one of India's closest friends and biggest investors. Japan is there in virtually every large infrastructure and developmental project in India. Japan has the target of JPY 5 trillion of public and private investment and financing in India in the next five years. Japan is cooperating hugely in development of India's Northeastern region too.

The sources suggest New Delhi could use its growing relationship with Tokyo to counter, in more effective ways, the challenges China and Pakistan, the two nations with which India had a history of arguments, pose to our country. Today India has with Japan the highest prime-ministerial level mechanism for dialogue between them. The two nations also have a 2+2 dialogue forum consisting of their Foreign and Defence secretaries. Besides, India is a key member of Japan-initiated QUAD forum. New Delhi could take full advantage of all such mechanisms. This could help New Delhi dissuade Beijing from its current indulgence in the practice of salami-slicing Indian territories in the Himalayas.

New Delhi could use the QUAD forum to have Japan's support to counter some of the territorial claims Pakistan and China have been making against India. The official travel advisory map on the website of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs still shows the Karakoram Pass, not NJ 9842, as the terminal point of India's Line of Control with Pakistan. It depicts Aksai Chin as an integral part of China, not a disputed India-China territory. New Delhi could gear its diplomacy to see to it that Japan corrects itself on this issue. Both the United States and the United Nations show NJ 9842 as the terminal point.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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