GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Bilateral Relations of India
Context: Japan’s Prime Minister recently visited India
Major Initiatives announced during the visit:
- Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP): It is aimed at curbing China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The key initiatives of the strategy include promoting respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, opposing unilateral changes by China through force, and improving cooperation to address global challenges.
- Japan will focus on Southeast Asia, South Asia (particularly Northeast India), and the Pacific Islands.
- Japan will promote the Bay of Bengal-Northeast India industrial value chain concept
- It will assist in developing maritime law enforcement capabilities of countries to free oceans from geopolitical risks.
- Japan’s concept of FOIP is complementary to India’s concept of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)
- India and Japan will assume the presidencies of G20 and G7 this year respectively.
Other major dimensions of India-Japan Relations are:
| Dimensions of India-Japan Relations | Examples |
| Shared values | · Democracy, Freedom and Rule of Law
|
| Defence and Security Cooperation | · India and Japan Vision 2025: To work together for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world.
· Relationship elevated to Special Strategic and Global Partnership (2014) · “2+2” Dialogue · Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement with India · Inclusive and Rule-based International order in Indo-pacific · FOIP (see description above) · Military exercise: Dharma Guardian (army), Veer Guardian (Air Force), MILAN, JIMEX (Navy) and Malabar respectively. |
| Strengthening India’s Act East Policy | · Japan is supporting strategic connectivity linking South Asia to Southeast Asia through the synergy between the ”Act East” policy and ”Partnership for Quality Infrastructure.” |
| Economic Cooperation | · Japanese help during India’s BOP crisis in 1991.
· Bilateral trade: Over US $ 20 billion (2022) · Comprehensive and Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) since 2011 · Industries Competitiveness Partnership · Japan was the 4th largest investor in India in FY2020. |
| Culture | · Buddhism
· Healthcare: Narrative of AHWIN (Japan’s) for AYUSHMAN Bharat |
| Investment and ODA | · India has been the largest recipient of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) Loan for the past decades. E.g., Delhi Metro, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and High-Speed Railways in India |
| Global Partnership | · Both are members of G4, Asia-Africa Growth Corridor, Supply chain resilience initiatives, QUAD |
| Space | · LUPEX Mission (India’s lunar lander and Japanese rover will explore the moon) |
| Nuclear Cooperation | · India-Japan Nuclear Deal 2016 will help India build the six nuclear reactors in southern India |
| Digital Infrastructure Cooperation | · Cooperation in promoting joint projects for digital transformation in various fields like 5G, Open RAN, Telecom Network Security, submarine cable systems, and Quantum Communications. |
| Challenges | · Climate change and WTO talks ( Japan siding with developed countries); Japan’s frosty relations with Russia (Kuril Island dispute) |
| Conclusion | Relations between two power can greatly support stability in the world. Also, Japan can help in India’s rise e.g. India’s quest to become a global semiconductor Chip Manufacturing hub |
Insta Links
Mains Links
The India-Japan relationship is facing challenges due to the changing global geopolitical scenario. Analyse the challenges and suggest measures to address them. (250 Words)
Prelims Links
Consider the following countries: ( UPSC 2018)
- Australia
- Canada
- China
- India
- Japan
- USA
Which of the above are among the ‘free-trade partners’ of ASEAN?
(a) 1, 2, 4 and 5
(b) 3, 4, 5 and 6
(c) 1, 3, 4 and 5
(d) 2, 3, 4 and 6
Ans: C
