Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned from Tokyo Wednesday after a five-day visit, has set the template for productive relations with Japan that should have not only strong bilateral underpinnings but the makings of a pathbreaking defence and strategic partnership that can have a structural impact in Asian affairs with doubtless global dimensions.
Never before have two major Asian powers with a standing in the world sought to arrive at a long-term compact. A good deal, of course, will depend on the ease of business prospects that the Modi government can provide to Japanese companies that are specially looking for investment opportunities since the cost of producing manufactured goods has been rising in China, where a high degree of Japanese capital is committed.
It may not be far-fetched to suggest that the deepening of India-Japan relations will depend crucially on the burgeoning of investment and trade relations, which have been hampered with all countries until now due to the inhibiting procedures and India’s slow-moving bureaucracy.
The flowering of the strategic and defence dimension of the relationship is unlikely to occur in a landscape that is indifferent to the sensitivities of Japan’s private sector. This is the key difference between, say, the old India-Soviet relationship, which was driven exclusively by the political understanding between states, and countries like Japan or the US.
India and Japan could not reach an agreement on civil nuclear energy in spite of clear anticipation on India’s part. A traditionally pacifist country since it has been the only target of nuclear weapons, and also being a beneficiary of the US nuclear umbrella, Tokyo has been cautious about moving toward an understanding on nuclear questions with New Delhi, although it now better appreciates India’s non-proliferation record and its overall disarmament approach than it did before.
We should be mindful, however, that any serious progress on a prospective civil nuclear agreement is also likely to be contingent on satisfactory movement — from the Japanese perspective — on across-the-board investment opportunities for Japanese business in India. Mr Modi realises this and has spoken of moving from “red tape to red carpet” for Japan in India.
The forward movement in India-Japan relations is the result of intensive effort of nearly a dozen years, particularly under former PM Manmohan Singh, but one that took in the Vajpayee years as well. Nevertheless, Mr Modi seems to have infused it with a personal element based on his favourable dealings with the Japanese private sector when he was Gujarat CM. This is all to the good. But it would be a mistake to believe that the India-Japan concord amounts to a ganging-up on China. Indeed, both Japan and India have strong economic ties with that country.
