Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

9. Japan-India Relations: A Time for Sea Change?

146 9 JAPAN-INDIA RELATIONS: A TIME FOR SEA CHANGE? Takio Yamada In฀his฀book,฀Towards฀a฀Beautiful฀Country,฀published฀in฀July฀2006,฀Prime฀ Minister฀Shinzo฀Abe฀has฀devoted฀three฀pages฀to฀Japan-India฀relations.1 ฀ Recognizing฀the฀enormous฀potential฀of฀emerging฀India,฀he฀states฀in฀the฀ book฀that,฀“it฀is฀of฀crucial฀importance฀to฀Japan’s฀national฀interest฀that฀we฀ will฀further฀strengthen฀our฀ties฀with฀India”฀and฀that฀“it฀will฀not฀be฀surprising฀ if฀in฀another฀ten฀years’฀time,฀Japan-India฀relations฀overtake฀Japan-U.S.฀and฀ Japan-China฀relations.”฀He฀further฀proposes฀that฀Japan฀and฀India,฀together฀ with฀the฀United฀States฀and฀Australia,฀should฀hold฀a฀strategic฀dialogue฀to฀ discuss฀how฀they฀can฀contribute฀and฀cooperate฀towards฀sharing฀universal฀ values฀such฀as฀freedom฀and฀democracy฀with฀other฀countries.฀These฀ideas฀are฀ reflected฀in฀Prime฀Minister฀Abe’s฀first฀press฀conference฀after฀his฀inauguration,฀ and฀in฀his฀policy฀speech฀in฀parliament.฀It฀is฀unprecedented฀for฀a฀Japanese฀ prime฀minister฀to฀express฀such฀strong฀enthusiasm฀towards฀improving฀Japan’s฀ relationship฀with฀India,฀even฀before฀assuming฀office.฀His฀statement฀reflects฀ Japan’s฀growing฀interest฀and฀expectations฀towards฀India,฀which฀has฀taken฀ major฀strides฀towards฀development฀in฀the฀recent฀years.฀ At฀the฀same฀time,฀there฀has฀been฀a฀rising฀interest฀in฀India฀as฀well,฀ in฀consolidating฀the฀relationship฀with฀Japan.฀It฀is฀well฀known฀that฀Prime฀ Minister฀Manmohan฀Singh฀himself,฀with฀his฀experience฀of฀receiving฀rapid฀and฀ generous฀assistance฀from฀Japan฀while฀dealing฀with฀the฀1991฀financial฀crisis฀as฀ the฀finance฀minister,฀is฀extremely฀passionate฀about฀strengthening฀India’s฀ties฀ with฀Japan.฀Moreover,฀with฀the฀new฀government฀led฀by฀Mr฀Abe,฀whom฀an฀ 09฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀146 8/19/08฀฀฀7:51:32฀PM Japan-India Relations: A Time for Sea Change? 147 Indian฀newspaper฀has฀described฀as฀an฀“Indophile”,2 ฀Indians฀are฀now฀looking฀ forward฀to฀a฀closer฀and฀deeper฀relationship฀with฀Japan.3 ฀ The฀expectations฀have฀further฀heightened฀in฀light฀of฀the฀successful฀visit฀ by฀the฀Indian฀Prime฀Minister฀Dr฀Manmohan฀Singh฀to฀Japan฀in฀December฀ 2006.฀During฀this฀visit,฀the฀two฀leaders฀confirmed฀their฀commitment฀to฀ establish฀a฀“strategic฀and฀global฀partnership”฀between฀the฀two฀countries,฀and฀ agreed฀to฀strengthen฀their฀bilateral฀relationship฀in฀all฀areas฀including฀political,฀ defence฀and฀security฀cooperation,฀comprehensive฀economic฀partnership,฀and฀ people-to-people฀exchange. These฀trends฀suggest฀that฀the฀Japan-India฀relationship฀may฀witness฀a฀ sea฀change฀in฀the฀near฀future.฀This฀chapter฀aims฀to฀examine฀the฀process฀and฀ background฀of฀this฀rapidly฀growing฀bilateral฀relationship,฀and฀will฀attempt฀ to฀identify฀the฀issues฀that฀the฀two฀countries฀need฀to฀overcome฀in฀order฀to฀ establish฀a฀true฀strategic฀partnership.฀ JAPAN-INDIA RELATIONS IN RETROSPECT Japan฀and฀India฀have฀not฀only฀enjoyed฀significant฀historical฀and฀cultural฀ties฀ —฀through฀Buddhist฀channels฀among฀others฀—฀in฀the฀past,฀but฀have฀also฀ influenced฀each฀other฀greatly฀in฀modern฀times.฀Okakura-Tenshin,฀a฀legendary฀ figure฀in฀classical฀Japanese฀Art,฀visited฀India฀in฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century,฀ and฀nurtured฀close฀relationships฀with฀the฀great฀Indian฀poet,฀Rabindranath฀ Tagore,฀the฀first฀Asian฀Nobel฀laureate฀in฀literature,฀as฀well฀as฀with฀Swami฀ Vivekananda,฀the฀famous฀spiritual฀leader฀of฀India.฀Tagore฀himself฀visited฀Japan฀ five฀times฀between฀1916฀and฀1929.฀On฀the฀political฀side,฀Japan’s฀victory฀in฀its฀ war฀against฀Russia฀during฀1904–05,฀encouraged฀the฀Indian฀people,฀who฀were฀ at฀that฀time฀under฀colonial฀rule.฀Among฀those฀was฀Prime฀Minister฀Nehru,฀ who฀was฀still฀a฀teenager฀at฀that฀time.4 It฀is฀well฀known฀to฀the฀Japanese฀public฀that฀Netaji฀Subhas฀Chandra฀Bose฀ and฀his฀Indian฀National฀Army฀collaborated฀with฀the฀Japanese฀forces฀during฀ World฀War฀II,฀and฀that฀Justice฀Radha฀Binod฀Pal฀raised฀dissenting฀opinions฀at฀ the฀International฀Military฀Tribunal฀of฀the฀Far฀East.฀Close฀ties฀between฀Japan฀ and฀India฀continued฀in฀the฀days฀following฀the฀World฀War฀II,฀with฀Prime฀ Minister฀Kishi฀(Prime฀Minister฀Abe’s฀grandfather)฀visiting฀India฀in฀1957,฀ the฀subsequent฀visit฀of฀Prime฀Minister฀Nehru฀to฀Japan฀in฀the฀same฀year,฀the฀ visit฀of฀the฀Crown฀Prince฀of฀Japan฀(the฀present฀reigning฀emperor)฀to฀India฀ in฀1960,฀and฀Prime฀Minister฀Ikeda’s฀visit฀to฀India฀in฀1961. However,฀after฀this฀period,฀Japan-India฀relations฀suffered฀a฀period฀of฀ estrangement.฀Between฀the฀1960s฀and฀early฀1980s,฀high-level฀interactions฀ between฀the฀two฀countries฀were฀rather฀infrequent.฀In฀fact,฀the฀next฀Japanese฀ 09฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀147 8/19/08฀฀฀7:51:33฀PM 148 Takio Yamada prime฀minister...