India and Japan become strategic partners
ON 21st October India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Japan for three days. He held talks with Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso, who took office last September. The Indian Prime Minister last visited Japan in 2006 and his Japanese counterpart visited India in 2007. Noting that India-Japan ties have improved considerably in recent years, Indian external affairs secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said a day before the visit that New Delhi attached "great priority to its strategic and global partnership" with Tokyo. Prior to the visit it was expected that an agreement on economic partnership between the two sides would be concluded, but it did not happen during the visit. Indian and Japanese negotiators who laboured for three days failed to bridge the differences between the two sides. What occurred during the visit was the conclusion of the Security Cooperation Declaration between the two countries. Common interests of both countries
Both are democratic countries and both share almost same democratic ideals. Both are members of the Group Four (G-4), a body pushing for reform in the UN and each is backing the other's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Analysts believe that political relations have improved vastly between the two countries because of China's power and economic rise. Economic relations are directly related to political relations. They are the two sides of the same coin. The two countries have come a long way since Japan imposed severe economic sanctions on India following India's nuclear tests in May 1998. Japan followed the action of the Clinton Administration in imposing sanction on New Delhi. Japanese companies are excited by the opportunities offered by India's growth and the number of firms operating in India has reportedly grown by 50% in the past three years. Toshiba is manufacturing television sets and personal computers in India and Toshiba's managing director Yuzo Kato, reportedly, believes that it could generate sales of $1 billion by 2015. Recent initiatives by India to attract foreign investors have been received well in Japan, demonstrated by the fact that a third of nearly 475 Japanese companies present in India made their investments over the past year. Many of these companies, such as Mitsui, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Honda and Orix, have started identifying potential areas of investment in the country. It is reported that many Japanese businessmen have recently made India their home, seeking to become part of India's success. Bilateral trade had grown to 15 billion dollars and is targeted to reach 20 billion dollars by 2010. Japan's trade with India in 2007 was about $11.8 billion, according to the Japanese finance ministry, slightly more than 4 percent of Japan's trade with China. India is the single largest recipient of Japan's overseas development assistance with Tokyo financing key infrastructure projects including a freight corridor between New Delhi and the western commercial hub of Mumbai. Japan is also expected to announce 450 billion yen for the dedicated freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, construction for which will start very soon, sources said. The Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will take a while longer, because a number of loose ends reportedly remain to be worked out. A new IIT in Hyderabad will be built with Japanese assistance in terms of technological expertise and faculty exchanges. Security Cooperation Declaration
In recent years India and Japan have moved closer toward each other because of China's rise and North Korea's nuclear programme. Both countries need each other in the existing global situation. Many analysts say Japan and India are strategically connected with the US' policy to contain China's influence in the Asia Pacific region. Japan claims that the backbone of the four-way (US, Japan, India and Australia) strategic and economic alliance would be the sharing of basic values such as freedom, democracy as well as economic clout. But at the heart of the strategic alliance is the need to contain the influence of China in the region. On 22nd August, 2007 former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during his visit to India, called for a new four-way "arc of freedom and prosperity" with India, Australia and the United States in a speech to the Indian parliament. Japan has been working to ensure that "a region called the 'arc of freedom and prosperity' will be formed along the outer rim of the Eurasian continent…The strategic global partnership of Japan and India is pivotal for such pursuits to be successful," he added. The last joint statement between former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Manmohan Singh had a big chunk devoted to security and strategic cooperation, but a standalone agreement, sources said, would make it easier for both militaries to work together on the ground, in terms of exercises, ship visits and joint patrolling of the seas. India and the United States, earlier this month, signed a deal that would allow India to buy civilian nuclear technology for the first time in three decades. It is seen as the US bolstering its strategic clout in Asia. Japan had supported India in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to clinch the US-India nuclear deal despite strong local opposition over India's failure to sign the 1970 Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. It drew praise from India because the Japanese government had to fight a domestic battle to support India. Japan is keen to participate in the Indian nuclear energy market estimated to be worth around $27 billion over the next 15 years. Why Security Declaration?
Japan faces competition from China. Within this decade China will surpass Japan in economic growth. Japan has to seek growth in cooperating with India's potential market. Japan needs Indian cooperation to provide cover for its oil-laden ships on the Straits of Malacca and Hormuz. India, which might be looking to transport oil from the Sakhalin Island, needs Japanese cover (although thus far, India has been selling its share of the oil and bringing in the proceeds). Second, Japanese ships providing support to its self-defence forces in Afghanistan need "friendly" docks in India for repairs or for just a breather. Third, India is looking to buy some critical defence technologies and equipment from Japan at better rates as Japanese equipment represents the cutting-edge technology and is also very expensive. For Japan, once the government works through its constitutional constraints, India is a market that Tokyo would like to explore. China's concern
The political significance of the Indo-Japan security agreement will not be missed in many parts of the world, not least of which will be China. China feels that it is being gradually encircled by the allies of the US. Some analysts say that India and Japan are likely to act for the United States as a counterbalance to China, and the Security Cooperation Declaration will be perceived by China to achieve this goal. It is interesting to note that while India's Prime Minister ended his visit to Japan, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was in Moscow on 27th October to boost its ties with Russia. Jiabao participated in the prime ministers' meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-countries, hosted by Kazakhstan. The members of SCO are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Analysts say SCO has been constituted to stem the influence of the US in Central Asia, a backyard of Russia. But observers say although India claims that it is not being drawn into a "China containment strategy", instead of focusing on improving ties with Beijing, boosting trade and solving a long-running border dispute, China's misgivings remain because of India's close ties with the US and its security cooperation accord with Japan, apparently abandoning its non-alignment policy in the context of current security environment.
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