The Natural Indo Japanese Partnership: Relationship through Civilisational Legacy

To meet the challenges Prime Minister Narendra Modi from India and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe are making a fundamental transformation in the relationship by making it Natural, Secure democratic and peaceful Asia and World.

The Visit to Japan to attend the fifth bilateral summit by PM Modi was to build on “special strategic and global partnership.” Important was defence ties, the joint Army, Navy and Air Force exercises. As Japan’s Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu, said it was only natural for the two militaries to have a logistics-sharing agreement because of a large number of manoeuvres they were carrying out each year.

Use of Naval Forces to use each other’s facilities Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement in Andaman and Nicobar islands, which lie near the Malacca Straits through which a large amount of Japan’s trade and fuel supplies is shipped. India’s navy, which is increasingly sending ships further would get access to Japanese facilities for maintenance are looked into.

In Infrastructure Investments, Japan has invested $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which will see the setting up of new cities, industrial parks, ports and airports, besides a 1,483km high-speed rail and road line. It is also backing the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train service and has already released the first tranche of Rs 5,500 crore. Japan is the third-largest source of FDI investment into India after Mauritius and Singapore. India has received $28.160 billion in FDI from Japan between April 2000 and June 2018.

So the Relationship is win-win as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had said, India’s economic growth is beneficial to his country. To boost India’s economy, Japan had pledged an investment of $33.8 billion in government and private sector investments for five years, following the Modi-Abe meet in 2014.

Globally they are typing up for. Further, India and Japan had announced joint projects in Africa as part of the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor. These include capacity building, human resource development, creating quality infrastructure and institutional connectivity and people-to-people partnership. Japan and India also discussed joint infrastructure projects in the region, including Sri Lanka. Globally they are collaborating in three-way naval exercises involving the United States in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Abe and Modi also called for a solution to the issue of Japanese nationals who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

At the last one can conclude that Prime Minister Modi endorsed Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,” which calls for rule-based order, territorial integrity and rights to free flight and sea navigation in the India-Pacific region. Prime Minister Abe said “A strong India is good for Japan, and a strong Japan is good for India. … This relationship of Japan and India is blessed with the largest potential for development for any bilateral relationship anywhere in the world,” Abe added.

In the Financial Year (FY) 2016-17, India-Japan trade reached US$ 13.61 billion, India’s export to Japan for 2016-17 was US$ 3.86 billion; whereas India’s Import from Japan for 2016-17 was US$ 9.76 billion. The presence of Japanese companies in India has been increasing steadily. As of October 2016, 1,305 Japanese companies are registered in India, an increase of 76 companies (6 per cent growth) as compared to 1,229 in October 2015.

A Step further is Japan said it would simplify its visa rules from 1 January next year for Indians applying for multiple entry visa for a short-term stay, a move which is expected to benefit tourists and business persons as well as repeat visitors.

Throughout the various phases of history, since contacts between India and Japan began some 1400 years ago, the two countries have never been adversaries. Bilateral ties have been singularly free of any dispute – ideological, cultural or territorial. India has increasingly featured as an important pillar in Abe’s idea of Asia as reflected in his book Utsukushii Kuni e. So the relationship is maturing and strong with PM Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.