Round The World

New Delhi, 5 January 2010

Hatoyama’s Visit

FURTHERING INDIA-JAPAN TIES

By Monish Tourangbam,

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

The Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s maiden visit to India after his victory in the August 2009 elections came like a succulent dessert towards the end of the diplomatic calendar. The meeting between him and Manmohan Singh gave an opportunity to better assess the ties between the mature Japanese economy and the dynamic and rapidly growing Indian economy. The high-profile visit proved a meeting of minds on various issues thus dispelling fears and concerns that the new administration had ignored India in its foreign policy calculations.

It was felt that the Hatoyama administration had sidestepped India’s importance while assessing the changing international environment in view of the global economic crisis and the rise of China. But, his stop in India and the substantial ties forged in various areas of cooperation have more than mitigated the suspicions.

Besides, the cultural connectivity in view of the influence of Buddhism and diplomatic relations initiated was quite early. Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established these ties in 1952. In fact, Japanese yen loans to India started as early as 1958 and over the years, India has become one of the most important destinations of Japanese aid. But a growing economy like India needs investment in wide-ranging areas of development. Some landmark decisions have been taken in recent times that have the capability of catapulting India-Japan economic cooperation to a different level altogether, taking it beyond the success of the Maruti-Suzuki enterprise that revolutionized driving in India.

One of the ventures that could change the level of interactions between India and Japan is the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Project. During the visit, the two sides reiterated their satisfaction that the project was now entering the implementation stage. They emphasized the importance of the joint establishment of the Project Development Fund (PDF) with support of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which is jointly initiated by Japan and India. They welcomed Substantive progress on DMIC Project including the completion of the Perspective plan and advancement of Early Bird Projects.

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (DMICDC) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) also signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on “Smart Communities” and “Eco-Friendly Townships”. These economic investments in a growing economy like India are also important in view of the weakened Japanese economy and the kind of competitive ground that India provides in terms of investment and businesses. Though India-Japan trade and investments are below expectations and have yet to reach the potential, there have been some good signs. Bilateral trade, more than $12 billion in 2008-09, is targeted to reach $20 billion in the next fiscal and Japanese investments in India in 2008 was $5.22 billion surpassing investment of $3.65 billion in China.

In this era of globalization, trade is often seen to interlock countries in a complex web of linkages. Investments in joint ventures, joint ownership and equitable responsibility foment habits of cooperation between countries and open new vistas of shared interests and complementariness. The new Japanese Prime Minister has talked of his vision of an EU-like East Asian Community and the Indian policymakers are curious to know what would be India’s place in such a vision. If recent overtures of the visit should forecast anything, then such a vision would not ignore the importance that India naturally occupies in maintaining the stability and prosperity of the region.

Several rounds of negotiations have been conducted over the conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)/Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The two leaders instructed the concerned officials to expedite the process, so that both the countries could benefit from the favorable conditions to be created out of the landmark agreement. Putting to rest concerns over the recent Indian decision to tighten visa processing rules, the Government of India decided to introduce a visa on arrival scheme for tourists from five countries including Japan on an experimental basis.

Even though the Hatoyama has expressed his plans to chart a course for Japan more independent of Washington, Tokyo’s security and defence policy is closely tied to that of the US. The recent thaw in US-India relations is bound to impact more favorably on the level of interactions between India and Japan. The high levels of engagements have been clearly seen in the Malabar naval exercises, further building bonds of strategic and defence cooperation.

During the Japanese PM’s visit, an Action plan was agreed upon based on the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between the two countries in October 2008. Discussions on security matters are to be deliberated upon pursuant to the newly-agreed framework at the Sub-cabinet/ Senior Official-level 2 plus 2 dialogue (Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the two countries).  

Regional organizations of all sizes and configurations have become a mainstay of foreign policy calculations. They often provide the platform to look for like-minded parties and form an inevitable part of the discourse between countries. India and Japan stood for open, transparent and inclusive regional cooperation in Asia, in both economic and security fields. They agreed to pursue bilateral cooperation in existing multilateral frameworks in Asia, in particular the East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) processes. The Coast Guards of the two countries were to continue cooperation to ensure maritime safety, security and to protect marine environment through joint exercise and meeting.

One of the major irritants in India-Japan ties has been on the non-proliferation front. Japan being the only victim of the atomic bomb is bound to be fairly strict and the importance given to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was expected to sour the note. But the two leaders chose to play safe and tone down the differences. India chose to throw the ball into the court of two nuclear power states, the US and China saying that ratification by these two countries “will create a new situation.”

As such, the quest for a civilian nuclear agreement is not over but it is not closed either. There is recognition of India’s clean proliferation record and New Delhi’s unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing. Moreover, India has got the NSG waiver and is expanding its zone of nuclear commerce. Both Japan and India have emphasized the importance of clean nuclear energy in view of the rising energy demand and climate change threats. As the international attitude softens towards the Indian civilian nuclear programme and confidence increases, it is highly probable that Japan might sooner or later open its doors to the highly enticing Indian market. 

For the time being, India and Japan will continue to harbour some differences over the non-proliferation issue. But as two countries with so much to gain from each other and shared interests in such a wide array of issues, it would be a diplomatic suicide if some irritants were made to derail the speeding “India-Japan Bullet Train”. --INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)