India Japan Relations by Luv Sharma

The great bronze statute of Lord Buddha in Todaji Temple in the capital city of Nara stands testimony to a relationship that has grown stronger with each passing moment. Indo-Japan ties have their roots in & owe their genesis to  the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in 6th Century CE. Tenjiku is what India is referred to in Japan.From 16th century when Japanese established political contact with the Portuguese colonies in India to the Meiji era when first direct political exchange started between the two nations till the co-operation extended to the INA by the Japanese , India & Japan have only added more force , vitality and vigour to their bilateral relationship thereby working hand in hand & benefiting from each others' strengths while simultaneously re-enforcing & building upon their mutual relationship in economic, defence, political and cultural fields & performing a vita lgeostrategic role in maintaining peace and stability in South Asia.

India & japan's cooperation has many facets covering various aspects of bilateral relationship.Historically economic ties with Japan were very well established.After the destruction from World War 2 that ravaged Japan India came forward with its iron ore to boost recovery.Japan started giving Yen loans to India in 1956 to aid India in its economic development after its independence.During Cold war era relations between India and Japan suffered as India followed a Non-Alignment policy which leaned towards Soviet Union and Japan on the other hand was a US ally.Though after 1980s efforts made to rejvenate the bilateral ties bore fruit with the signing of the iconic joint venture agreement between Maruti Udyog ltd. & Suzuki of Japan in 1982 .The agreement gave birth to Maruti Suzuki which has now transformed itself

into one of the largest and successful automobile manufacturing company in India.

Currently both countries are engaged in various economically beneficial activites strengthening each others' economies in the process.India remains the highest recipient of Official Development Aid(ODA)from Japan.Since the unvieling of a global and strategic partnership in 2006 economic ties have gathered momentum.The commencement of CEPA(Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement)in August 2011 has added new dimension to existing economic relations between both countries.The agreement's importance could be gauged by the facts that it was the first time India signed a bilateral agreement with an industrialised nation & it was also the first truly comprehensive agreement concluded by India , given the wide range of issues it addressed.Economic partnershipbetween India and Japan is critical in providing a strategic balance to the East Asian Summit countries in face of steadily increasing economic influence of China.Furthering action to address this concern both india and japan have forged an alliance to jointly develop rare earth minerals to reduce dependence on China

Civil nuclear energy is another field where both countries are trying to converge together for helping each other in peaceful use of nuclear energy.Various joint statements by India and Japan have mandated and stressed upon civil nuclear energy agreement .However the pace of negotiations is slow esp after the fukushima disaster in Japan many anti-nuclear protests have happened in Japan demanding a complete ban on the use of nuclear energy and shutting down of nuclear reactors.So it is seen unethical by some sections of non-proliferation enthusiasts in Japan to sell other countries a technology which it is not intending to use ie, nuclear energyBoth countries can address safety concerns of the protestors by assuring them that adequate safety measures will be followed.Apparently Boiling Water Reactors were being used in fukushima.India has already modified its Boiling Water Reactors that are in use currently.Japan has endorsed India's candidature for 4 major multilateral export control regimes ie NSG, Missile Technology Control Regime, The Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement.Japan has only learned from the recent disaster that struck its fukushima reactor and India can benefit by suitably restructuring its safety needs in accordance withinternational guidelines issued after the incident.India is energy deficient and the peaceful use of nuclear energy in civil sector would exterminate many of its problems most importantly the ever deepening power crisis

Advance technology commerce is another area where India can hugely benefit by Japanese technological briliance and sheer ingenuity.Some examples of projects where Japanese are contributing actively both in terms of technology and finance are viz., Western Freight Corridor, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor & Bangalore Metro Rail Project.

Its a known fact that Japan has a pacifist constitution meaning it has no offensive systems in terms of warfare but it has Asia's largest Naval fleet, conventional subs coupled with helicopters carrying destroyers and advanced Ballistic missile systems in the world.India on the other hand is world's largest arms importer and is desperately in need for developing its indigenous weapon evelopment and manufacturing capabilites.Japan and India can help each other here by working jointly to innovate new technologies and defence systems. Stable bilateral ties are almost always formed on the bedrock of security collaboration and cooperation.Case in point being that of China whose purely economic relationships with many countries like India, japan is constantly rigged with tensions and striations.Both the countries being energy deficient in terms of oil have to import oil form persian gulf region so securing the maritime trade routes have become a priority for both India and Japan.India and Japan have understood the above fact as they hold joint navsl exercises two improve their maritime cooperation and strengthen the information sharing systems to be able to work in a more structured manner if and when situation demands.

India can use Japan's Heavy Manufacturing industry Base while on the other hand India's services lead industry can help each other out.In this sense the economies of both the nations are complimentary to each other with India's Human capital & Japan's financial & technological prowess.Japan can help India in its infrastructural development.

Engagement at political level too has reached new heights .Current level of political engagement includes an annual level Prime Ministerial Summit & several pther yearly Ministerial dialogues including a strategic dialogue between Foriegn Ministers , a security dialogue between the Defence Ministers and so on.The recent visit of Emperor Akihito marked an historic chapter in bilateral ties between India and Japan.As he became the fjrst emperor from Japan to visit India.The visit signals intent of the japanese govt to take the bilateral relationship to whole new level with increasing engagement in not only political but every other facet of the relationship.

Though people to people engagement is on the lower side as only 500 Indian students in are their in Japan compared to 80,000 from China.

A nurturing and strengthening of the bilateral relationship between India and Japan will not only prove beneficial to both the countries and its people but also provide a much needed stability in South Asia.A rising Asia is not only a necessity for Asian countries but also for the whole world which can only be achieved with two of its vital nations engaging each other at every level of mutual cooperation.So that China's increasing footprint in the South Asian region & its ever increasing economic clout poses a threat to the regional stability and can create a political imbalance which can be countered verily by Indo-Japan mutual cooperation.