Japan-India Summit on Security and Economy

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tokyo on August 29th. Both leaders released a joint statement which described their discussion toward strengthening strategic and forward-looking partnership for achieving mutual security and prosperity in the coming decades. The meeting reflected national interests of both countries, which have been affected by recent security and economic developments in international relations with growing complexity.

The joint statement stressed enduring partnership between Japan and India for next generation. Recognizing expansion of their bilateral relationship in the past decade to the areas as defense, trade, investment and people-to-people linkage. Two prime ministers acknowledged that Japan and India have built over seventy dialogue mechanisms for collaboration of each other.

 

Japan hoped to enhance bilateral ties with India for security in Asia-Pacific region. The joint statement reaffirmed commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, a concept initiated by Japan to deal with China’s advance in the region. By referring to QUAD, which is a multilateral security framework by Japan, India, Australia and the United States, Japan hoped India to remain on the side of democracy with rule of law.

 

Two prime ministers expressed serious concern on the situation in East China Sea and South China Sea, where China has been making attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. They also condemned launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea as violating multiple resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. Supposedly by request of India, they accused of terrorist attack in Kashmir in April 2025 in “strongest terms.”

 

In the joint declaration on security cooperation, Japan and India noted their intention to have bilateral exercises between their forces with exploration of new meeting framework by joint staffs. They will promote sharing information, reciprocal provision of supplies and collaboration on chemical, biological and radiological defense, focusing on detection, decontamination or response strategies.

 

The prime ministers announced Japan-India Economic Security Initiative for bilateral cooperation in economic security to strengthen supply chains in critical goods and to cooperate in emerging technologies. Japan set a target of 10 trillion yen in private investment in India. Both governments are going to cooperate for building high-speed railroad for bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

 

It is important for India to have moderate economic relationship with Japan in the time when it has difficulty with the United States, having been imposed high tariff rate on Indian products. Japan needs India not only for stability in Asia-Pacific region, but also for connectivity with African countries, as expressed in the declaration of Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dilemma between Alliance and Constitution

  In the new year ministerial online meeting, Japan and United States resolved to work together to deal with various challenges by China. In the Joint Statement of the Security Consultative Committee, or “2+2,” the ministers of both government, US Secretaries of State and Defense and Japanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, expressed their concerns on Beijing’s efforts, which were recognized as undermining the rule-based order in Indo-Pacific region and the world. On possible countermeasures, however, there still is a possibility of constitutional dispute in Japan over the principle of exclusively defensive security policy. The ministers referred to their concern about China’s activities in the East and the West China Sea. They reaffirmed to apply Article V of US-Japan Treaty of mutual Cooperation and Security to the Senkaku Islands, and strongly objected to China’s unlawful maritime claims, militarization and coercive activities in the South China Sea. They did not forge...
Read more

Oral Argument against Landfill

Governor of Okinawa Denny Tamaki made an unusual appearance to the court on Monday to submit his opinion on the building of new base for United States Force in Henoko, Nago city. “Execution by proxy of the national government, which violates the independency of Okinawa, cannot be accepted,” said Tamaki in the first oral argument at Naha Branch of Fukuoka High Court on the trial over the request of national government to change the design of new base. Accepting demand from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the court closed the trial on the day one.   The national government submitted in 2020 a change of plan for the construction of new base, which was to reinforce the soil of sea base. The government of Okinawa rejected the plan and Tokyo ordered Okinawa accepting it, but Okinawa did not obey, and then Tokyo filed a lawsuit. The Supreme Court decided in September that the order of national government was lawful. Seeing that Okinawa did not approve the plan by ...
Read more

Struggle over a Hearing on Accounting Manager

Without a simple majority in the House of Representatives, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) struggles against the opposition parties on inviting former accounting manager of Abe faction to the Committee on Budget. While the oppositions hope to keep the issue alive until the Upper House election this summer, the LDP wants to terminate the prolonged discussion over the slush fund scandal. The committee still cannot determine the date to begin discussion on FY 2025 budget.   The public prosecutors indicted former accounting manager of Abe faction, Jun-ichiro Matsumoto, with charge of wrong reporting about kickback fund of the faction. Tokyo District Court  sentenced  Matsumoto last September three years of imprisonment with suspension of five years. Matsumoto requested the LDP not to invite him to the Diet, because he had already told about the scandal in the court and had no further information to reveal.   The opposition parties have been demanding a hearing ...
Read more