Editorial 2: The India- Japan partnership
Context:
PM Modi is set to visit Japan for the Annual Bilateral summit with his Japanese counterpart. He last travelled to Japan in 2018 for bilateral summit. Thereafter, he will visit to China for Heads of State Council meeting of SCO.
Historical ties and Shared vision:
- Japan and India have civilization ties with shared values, trust and modern strategic outlook.
- Both countries have elevated their bilateral relations to Global partnership in 2000, which was further elevated to Strategic and Global Partnership in 2006. Further it was upgraded to Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014.
- Both countries are Asia’s two leading democracies with historical ties. They have a shared view in the regional and global outlooks.
- India with its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative views Japan as a connectivity pillar. Japan also shares the India’s vision of Indo-Pacific in its Fee and Open Indo-Pacific policy.
- Both countries are members of multilateral platforms such as International Solar Alliance, QUAD, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Defense and Security Cooperation:
- They have signed multiple agreements such as Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services Agreement in 2020, and co-development of UNICORN naval mast in 2024.
- They are mutually part of many exercises such as Malabar (with US and Australia), Milan (multilateral naval), JIMEX (bilateral maritime).
- They regularly conduct Defense minister’s visits, army chiefs’ visit, and Joint service talks.
- In the light of changing global security scenario, existing defense cooperation must be updated.
Trade and Investment:
- Bilateral trade for FY 2023-24 was $22.8 billion. In Apr-Jan 2024-25, it stood at $21 billion. This demonstrates stability in bilateral trade.
- Bilateral trade has trade deficit favoring Japan.
- India’s major exports include chemicals, vehicles, and aluminum and sea food. Major imports for India include machinery, steel, copper and artifacts.
- Japan is India’s fifth largest source of FDI with annual investment of $43.2 billion up to December, 2024.
- They are focusing on emerging areas such as semiconductors, AI, critical minerals, telecommunications and clean energy.
- Both countries have already achieved the target of investment 5 trillion yen in Public and private investments by 2026.
Development and Infrastructure Cooperation:
- Japan is India’s largest overseas development assistance partner with total assistance of $4.5 billion in 2023-4.
- High speed rail network from Mumbai to Ahmadabad is the symbol of advanced technology transfer and skill development.
- They are willing to launch a mobility partnership covering railways, roads.
Multilateral Cooperation:
- They are part of many initiatives such as International Solar Alliance, QUAD, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
People-to-People Contacts:
- Both the countries have celebrated 2023-24 as Year of Tourism Exchange with theme “Connecting Himalayas with Mount Fuji”.
- There are many university and academic partnership platforms such as Universities Forum promoting student exchanges. The Skill Connect platform launched in 2023 connects skilled Indian workers to Japanese employers.
- There is Indian Diaspora of 54,000 Indians living in Japan. This includes IT professionals, college students.
Way Forward:
Both India and Japan share the historical ties that date back to ancient India. Amid global uncertainty caused by arbitrary tariff imposition, wars, natural calamities, both these countries must boost their cooperation to address these global challenges in a mutually beneficial way. Also, it will help countering the China which poses a security threat to both the countries.