– By Schwn Cyril Sabu
– Intern IPPCS’21
India and Japan share a deep historical-cultural relation due to Buddhism. Both nations fought the second world war on the rival position. However, efforts were initiated during the post-independence period to establish diplomatic relations resulting in the signing of a peace treaty in 1952. High-level diplomatic visits and meetings between the leaders of India and Japan have strengthened the relationship of the two Asian powers emerging as global partners. Japan has been the cornerstone of India’s ‘Look-East’ policy that recently became the ‘Act East Policy’.
The Modi-Abe bond after 2014 has helped India to emerge as a special strategic global partner of Japan. The quadrilateral cooperation between US, Australia, Japan and India on the Indo-Pacific has taken diplomacy towards a new direction of innovation. The bilateral cooperation on military, trade, development and technology needs to be analysed. It will help us to understand the importance of the Indo-Pacific strategy and how the cooperation can be utilised for countering Chinese expansionism in the global world.
Economically, Japan has played a significant role in the developmental journey of India. It has invested a total of $ 34 billion during the last two decades. Since the 1960s, Japan has been providing bilateral loans and grant assistance to India. In 2008, Japan signed an agreement with India to provide interest-free loans for railway projects between New Delhi and Mumbai. The 2015 agreement to build a bullet train line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has been a landmark initiative in the economic partnership. Japan has also invested in infrastructural projects like Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor along with twelve industrial townships. The island nation has partnered with India in the ‘Asia Africa Growth Corridor’ (AAGC) to develop an industrial corridor that will help in improving ties with Asian and African countries.
The ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)’ signed between Japan and India eliminated export and import trade tariffs. The agreement resulted in the improvement of bilateral trade. The international trade between Japan and India increased from 13.1 billion in 2010 to 17.6 billion dollars in 2019. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) flow from Japan to India has been concentrated on the automobile, telecommunication, chemical, financial, pharmaceutical and electrical equipment industry.
Beyond trade and commerce, both countries have been vocal about strategic and maritime independence opposing the dominance of China. Militarily, Coast Guards from both nations conducted regular annual exchanges from 2006. Convergence on strategic affairs has resulted in the joint military exercises between Japan and India. The regular participation of Japan in the Malabar Naval Exercise has improved maritime cooperation. The JIMEX (naval exercise), SHINYUU Maitri (air force exercise) and Dharma Guardian (military exercise) have built up the defence cooperation between India and Japan. The ‘Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement’ (ACSA) is a military cooperation pact signed between Japan and India. The accord allows armed forces from either side to coordinate closely on service and supplies. The policy allows access to the military base of each country. The recent listing of India in the defence report of Japan has been a remarkable achievement.
Technologically, during India’s nuclear test period, diplomatic relations between the two countries reached a low phase. Sanctions were imposed on India, which were lifted after 3 years. However, the ‘India-Japan Agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy’ 2016 resolved the differences through negotiations. Both countries have signed bilateral agreements on SC/ICT, start-ups, 5G and space research. These initiatives have broadened the technological horizons of Indo-Japanese relations.
The coming of the Abe administration was a significant point in the bilateral relationship. At the same time, India needs to make efforts to maintain the existing good friendship with Japan. Along with Japan, it needs to pursue and balance the security policy against China. High-level ministerial and bureaucratic meetings need to continue amidst the pandemic to expand the vision of the Indo-Pacific. The speculated expansion of the US Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance to include Japan and India will embolden the security relations and help to fight the Chinese aggression in the global order.
The Asia-Pacific Growth Corridor presents a big opportunity for India. The joint partnership has focussed on providing developmental assistance to Asian and African countries. The emerging Afro-Asian unity and cooperation can be used as a strategy to protect third-world countries from China’s debt-trap policy.
During the Modi-Abe era, Tokyo and New Delhi have cooperated on cybersecurity. India’s support for data localisation and reluctance to comply with global cybersecurity agreements remain a major challenge for technological cooperation.
The CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) has improved the international trade between India and Japan. It saw the rise in overseas trade from $13.1 billion in 2010 to $ 17.6 billion in 2019. However, India’s export has remained the same without much improvement. There has been more than a two-fold rise in the trade deficit for India. Hence, it becomes important to explore the untapped export potential of India. Through this effort, two of the countries will be able to equally benefit from trade.
India’s exit from the ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’ in 2020 became a major disappointment for Japan. Without India, it becomes difficult for Japan to extend its sphere of influence in RCEP. This was followed by Mr. Abe calling off the visit to India.
Hence, India needs to re-evaluate and assess its engagement with the island nation. It needs to make an effort to continue and maintain the bilateral relationship. The upcoming elected government of Japan will be a crucial point for the future of Indo-Japanese relations. Continuing the strong Indo- Japanese relation will strengthen the Indo-Pacific and help to counter the wolf warrior diplomacy of China in geopolitics.
References
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CNBCTV18. “India-Japan partnership: Trade and beyond.” CNBCTV18 16 April 2021. <https://www.cnbctv18.com/views/india-japan-partnership-trade-and-beyond-8957701.htm>.
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