RISING REGIONAL POWERS WORKING TOGETHER

Dr. Sunil Chacko - Guest Columnist


Also published at http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/10904-joint-statement-maps-out-road-india-japan-ties

The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe visited India on 13 and 14 September 2017 for the annual India-Japan Prime Ministerial Summit. This visit was unique because his itinerary was entirely in Gujarat, opening the doors to similar such state-level visits by heads of government, reflecting India’s diverse States-Union tradition.

There was palpable excitement in Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar for the visit of Japan’s first couple, Shinzo and Akie Abe, as compared to the jaded disinterest that is common in Lutyens Delhi for the now-unending stream of dignitaries that come through the nation’s capital. Indeed, the next summit in India in 2019 could be in the southern states.


The highlights of the Abes’ interactions with the public were their marigold bedecked open-jeep greetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to throngs of excited Gujaratis lining the streets and the much-anticipated foundation stone laying ceremony for the Shinkansen Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train construction project, expected to be completed around 2022. The Abes too appeared to be energised by the warm reception they received, and PM Abe in his exuberance, declared “I really like India and I will do whatever I can do for India”. This is not insignificant, given that some in the leadership of another large economy in Asia, by comparison, appear to be taking frequent pot-shots at India.


The Joint Statement at the conclusion of the Prime Ministerial Summit calls for alignment of Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy with India’s Act East Policy, including through enhancing maritime security cooperation, improving connectivity in the wider Indo-Pacific region, strengthening cooperation with ASEAN, and promoting discussions between strategists and experts of the two countries. It advances the need for partnerships for prosperity through India-Japan Investment Promotion, speedy implementation of key infrastructure projects, and advancing cooperation in the fields of energy, smart cities, information and communication technology, space, science and technology, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and health.


Both India and Japan have a formidable number and range of human resources and expertise in sectors mentioned in the Joint Statement, however, one tall barrier could be the relative unfamiliarity with Japanese language in the past interactions among Indians and Japanese. Japanese language teaching in India was stressed in the Joint Statement, as was collaboration in the fields of tourism, civil aviation, higher education, women’s education, skills development and sports. For many Indians, who have grown up with multiple-languages and multi-cultural environment in a multi-religious-and-ethnic society, adding one more language to our portfolio may not be such a difficult task, especially if Japanese language skill is associated with in-coming skilled jobs with Make in India investment from Japan.


On the enhanced connectivity of Pacific-Indian Ocean, the two Prime Ministers plan to work together to enhance connectivity in India and with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Africa. This includes the development of industrial corridors and industrial networks for the growth of Asia and Africa, which will benefit various stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region, including Africa. They shared the desire to further promote cooperation and collaboration in Africa, just as companies like Maruti-Suzuki have been exporting to numerous African nations.


The Joint Statement also prescribes enhanced defense and security cooperation and dialogues, defense equipment and technology cooperation in such areas as surveillance and unmanned system technologies, and defense industry cooperation.


As is customary with joint statements, there is a litany of initiatives and programmes mentioned. However, little by way of analysis and evaluation. What has happened to various joint endeavours? Have they resulted in business going concerns or faded into oblivion? What can we learn from those experiences?


In a first, PM Abe and PM Modi stressed the importance of holding accountable all parties that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, a not-so-veiled reference to the widely suspected Pakistan and China, which have reportedly been overtly, covertly and unofficially supportive.


It is quite fascinating that Modi and Abe have returned to the theme of “Confluence of the Two Seas”, meaning the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which was the title of a 1655 book authored by the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh, who was the son and heir-apparent of Emperor Shah Jahan. Dara Shikoh assiduously sought understanding with different communities and religions. This book title was emphasised by Prime Minister Abe in his famous speech to Indian Parliament on 22 August 2007, during his first term in office. That Dara Shikoh was assassinated by his brother Aurangzeb, a despot, in order to seize power, is often not remembered. Thus, recollecting India’s history, PM Abe’s 2007 speech aimed at governance through peace and by extension peace through strength, would be an essential shared vision; not merely peace through good intentions and hope, and that is indeed the path that India and Japan have embarked on.


Dr Sunil Chacko, a graduate of Harvard, has been a faculty member in the US, Canada, India and Japan.
 

INDIA & JAPAN STANDING TOGETHER

Dr. Sunil Chacko - Guest Columnist


Also published at http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/10801-crowded-agenda-awaits-modi-and-abe-gandhinagar


Japan was the only country besides Bhutan to publicly back India during the 71-day India-China armed standoff at Doklam. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits India next week for the annual India-Japan Prime Ministerial Summit at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stock has risen in the great power centres worldwide over his resolute handling of the standoff with China and his deft management of the complex relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That the Doklam imbroglio could have led to a border war, which would have triggered the clauses for legal expropriation of all Chinese assets in India as per the Enemy Property Act 1968, appears to have been a key factor in cooling hotheads in the armed forces of China.


Japan itself faces a threat, which has the capacity of becoming existential. This is with Kim Jong-Un and his regime in Pyongyang. As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe grapples with the unending complications of the breathtakingly tense North Korean crisis—where Kim Jong-Un appears to reserve special venom for Japan, for historical reasons, and with missiles flying over the Japanese islands like ping pong balls— the people in the world’s third largest economy are jittery. Therefore, the strongly worded statements from India have been doubly reassuring. The Japanese side is convinced that India, a rising power, will stand for respect for international law and will not tolerate rogue actions, and the special relationship between the two Prime Ministers Modi and Abe ensures that. The recent Malabar naval exercises of the Navies of India, the United States and Japan have augmented that confidence in India as a strong and reliable partner of Japan.


Unbeknown to most Japanese is the North Korea-Pakistan axis of nuclear and missile proliferation, even from the time of Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan. Some Indian scientists have privately opined that both North Korea and Pakistan could not have advanced so much in both nuclear and missile technologies without concrete scientific and technological help from China. North Korea undoubtedly has become the cause of the most severe migraine that Japan has had since the US started providing a security umbrella after the end of the Second World War 72 years ago. Thus, India—with its own historical links with North Korea through the “non-aligned movement”—breaking with tradition and condemning North Korea for its belligerence is definitely being paid close attention in Tokyo.


Beyond the national security angles, PM Abe along with PM Modi will lay the foundation stones of two flagship projects for mutual economic growth. First the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor, which will become the main pathway for Japanese-Indian “Make in India” products and components for export to the growing economies of Africa. It is also fitting that the inaugural events are being held in Gujarat, since it re-emphasises the historical links built by Kutchi traders with Zanzibar in Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. Abe believes that the Indian diaspora, which is firmly rooted in important countries of South, West and East Africa are the key partners for local distribution, management of spares and servicing, and related work needed for Japanese investment to succeed.


The Japanese are not resident in Africa in most countries in any appreciable numbers, unlike the Chinese. Therefore, there is little risk of the Japanese somehow running by themselves the local operations in African nations of joint ventures and other co-produced products from India. Japan sees India as a good location to manufacture and export to Africa, the Middle-East and Central Asia. Indeed, the Maruti-Suzuki manufactured vehicles in India are exported to 125 countries, a genuine success story for the company, Suzuki, which was once on the verge of bankruptcy because of stiff competition from much larger rivals in Japan like Toyota, Honda and Nissan.


Another important and much-anticipated construction project is the “Shinkansen” bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. This rail mode has an enviable zero accident record, despite travelling at over 300 kilometres an hour in Japan. Indeed, beyond the bullet train, Japan-India collaboration on enhancing railway safety throughout the country is one of the topics under discussion. The average speed of Indian trains being about 50 kmph, at the Shinkansen speed, the journey from Mumbai to Ahmedabad would be cut to two hours from the current seven hours. However, the new route would require 11 new tunnels, including an undersea tunnel near Mumbai, and, therefore, the total Japanese concessional loan is approximately $12 billion at 0.1% interest, with a 50-year repayment period, as well as a moratorium on payments for the first 15 years, while the route and train construction, training and allied development work is undertaken and passenger journeys get underway. This is the most concessional of loans, at 0.1% interest, that Japan has ever given for commercial-scale projects. It is one of the payoffs of the increasingly close India-Japan multi-faceted relationship.


Both Modi and Abe, who are close friends, will have several rounds of discussions on geopolitical matters, as well as the India and Japan partnership being developed by the two PMs. The two countries have shared values in security stability, promotion of dialogue and engagement with strong legal ground, joint outreach to global market, where Indians are geo-politically strong, and technology collaboration for the new era of strong and sustained growth. The forthcoming Modi-Abe summit is expected by the Japanese side to be a path-breaker in ties between Tokyo and Delhi.


Dr Sunil Chacko, a graduate of Harvard, has been a faculty member in the US, Canada, India and Japan.