India-Japan: A Tale of Multifaceted Relations.By- Shivangi SharmaIntroductionIndia has just celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties with Japan last year. The relation

India-Japan: A Tale of Multifaceted Relations.

India has just celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties with Japan last year. The relationship between these two nations have always been cordial except a few times in history. Technically, these two nations were never at war but 1944, the Battle of Imphal, raises a lot of questions which many people do not know of. But moving forward after the incidents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and after the independence of India, we can see the inception of a strategic alliance built on national interest and power value of both the nations in Asia. Now, they both stand as allies of each other at present.

India- Japan relations have ancient links of culture and people to people contact. History dates back to the time of spread of Buddhism. Now Japan has one of the major populations of Buddhist sect in the world. Buddhism is the second largest religion followed by people in Japan. In modern times, after India’s independence, Prime Minister Nehru gifted elephant ‘to the children of Japan’ in 1949. This was a gesture to build a relation with Japan and a humanitarian symbol of solidarity as Japan lost its elephants due to the war. In the contemporary times, there are many products used by Indians which originated from Japanese companies like Yamaha, Honda, Sony, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Hitachi. There are more than 40000 Indian nationals living in Japan as of 2022. Many cartoons from Japan are very famous in India like Doraemon, Kiteretsu etc. Overall Japanese Manga is very famous in India. Anime is also very popular amongst youngsters, which started off with the airing of “Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama” released in 1992. Indian food and films are very popular in Japan. This shows how people to people contact has shown growth irrespective of all the geopolitics in and across the nations.

People to People Relations between India and Japan

With the rise of China and scope of a multipolar world, it is very important that rising powers cooperate with each other. Shinzo Abe was a visionary to have seen the world specifically Asia on crossroads of taking action to have a little control over power dynamics in Asia. He did not want China’s hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region. Now, QUAD stands as a symbol of Abe’s legacy. It is strategic partnership between India, Japan, Australia, America which deals with security issues in maritime of Indo-Pacific region. The common goal of India and Japan can be deduced from this alliance i.e., free Indo-pacific region and to counter aggressive Chinese policies. Acquisition and cross servicing agreement was also signed in 2020 (Points below are from Press Release by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan):

“1. The Agreement establishes a framework such as the settlement procedures for the reciprocal provision of supplies and services between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Indian Armed Forces.

2. It is expected that the Agreement will facilitate the smooth and prompt provision of supplies and services between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Indian Armed Forces. The Agreement will also promote closer cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Indian Armed Forces, and enable them to actively contribute to international peace and security.” 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  

“Japan and India have renewed the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) of up to $75 billion with effect from February 28, 2022.

The Bank of Japan, acting as agent for the Minister of Finance of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed the Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the BSA, per a 

BSA is a two-way arrangement where both authorities can swap their local currencies in exchange for the US Dollar.

“Japan and India believe that the BSA, which aims to strengthen and complement other financial safety nets, will further deepen financial cooperation between the two countries and contribute to regional and global financial stability,” RBI said.” (Source: The Hindu Business line, Updated - February 28, 2022 at 03:09 PM. | Mumbai, February 28)

ODA (Official Development Assistance) was also provided by Japan to India to work together in many infrastructural projects as discussed further in the article. Investment of 42 billion dollars was also announced by Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida on his visit to India.

Ahmedabad Mumbai highspeed rail (Shinkansen technology)

Andaman Nicobar- Diesel based power plant

Peace treaty 1952- “Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April, 1952. This treaty was one of the first peace treaties Japan signed after World War II.” (Source: MOFA, Japan)

Japan started giving ODA (Official Development Assistance) to India in the form of Yen Loan in 1958 in exchange for exporting steel to them in the times of crisis.

Nuclear tests were not appreciated since Japan is a pacifist nation. Japan is the first nation of such caliber to denounce its rights to declare a war. Hence, after the 1998 nuclear tests, India had to face serious repercussions like sanctions from Japan. These sanctions went on for three years. 

In 2007, Shinzo Abe came to India and addressed Indian Parliament. Then in 2014, Modi went to Japan to build a strategic partnership.

ASEAN+ 6 is an association of nations which provides a forum for discussing energy demand and create a greater commercial potential for the region as a whole. East Asia Summit is another forum for discussions in which both the nations play an important role.

FTA (Foreign Trade Agreement) 2011 aimed on eliminating tariffs but this deal was not much of a success.

CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) was signed between the two nations in 2011.

India withdrew from RCEP because of imbalance of trade and involvement of China in it.

In 2014, India signed Special Strategic Global Partnership with Japan in the leadership of Prime Minister Modi for a peaceful and progressive continent i.e., Asia. SCRI (Supply Chain Resilience Initiative) is another initiative to counter balance the hegemony of China in the near future in the region.

70th Anniversary of diplomatic ties was celebrated in the year 2022 which shows that these two nations have been strong allies to each other through thick and thin.

Relevance of This Relationship in Contemporary Era:

Firstly, these two nations need to support each other to get a permanent seat in security council. G-4 was created with this purpose in the first place, four significant nations backing each other as a contender for UNSC.  

Countering China’s unchecked power in the region is another goal for these two nations to progress towards cooperation and peace.

India will help to mitigate economic stagnation which is approaching Japan by 2050, by providing human resources. Japan, on the other hand, can help India with technology in the defense sector. This will also help India to diversify its imports with regard to the defense system.

BRICS and NATO are very polar groupings of these two nations and can be seen as a challenge in the cooperation. However, it is very important to see the potential in the alliance of both the nations. Groups like JAI, 2+2, Blue dot dialogues are programmes to look forward to which will help in the growth of bilateral and multilateral relations between India and Japan. India and Japan are crucial for each other because they are democratic powers which are in top 10 economies of the world currently.

0 Comments