Improving Indo-Japanese Ties for BetterBalance of Power in the Region: Current Event Presently in News
INDO-JAPAN Ties : A current NewsHello Friends i am really satisfied to find a article related to Ties between India-Japan. India is a developing country and we should appreciate our PM Mr. Narendra Modi on his visit to Japan to bring about technological changes in our country. This tour is really appreciated by Japanese PM as he was with our PM Narendra Modi whole the time on 5 day visit. This post is important because it covers all the historical facts as well as current tie-ups between India and Japan and India-Japan Relationship. If you are going for your SSB then read this post for your knowledge as it may be a Topic in Group Discussion, Lecturette and can be asked in P. INterview
Historical Perspective
Traditionally over thecentury’s relationship between India and Japan has remained fairly cordial.Buddhism spread from India to Japan via China and Korea.
During the 20th centuryJapan embarked upon the process of modernisation and development and Indiaviewed Japan with admiration and as a symbol of Asian resurgence in a worldthat was more western power centric.
During the Second WorldWar India was under the British and hence fought the war against the Japanese.When Japan conquered Burma and reached the Indian border, 67,000 Indiansoldiers were taken as prisoners of war by Japan.
These prisoners of warwere indoctrinated against the British, and many of them joined the IndianNational Army (INA) to fight against the British rule in India.
In 1944-45 joint forcesof India and Britain defeated Japanese forces in Burma and INA disintegrated.
Japan supported theIndian Independence Movement, and accepted many activists that escaped fromBritish rule and stayed in Japan. The prominent one’s being, Rash Behari Bose,the leader of Indian Independence Movement and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose whoorganised and led INA to fight alongside the Japanese Imperial Forces againstthe British.
Most prominent offensivewas launched in the NE state of Manipur, the battles of Imphal and Kohima ledto a major defeat of Japanese forces and INA completely lost its cohesion.
India for the first timeafter the second world war established diplomatic ties with Japan afterrestoration of its sovereignty in April 1952 by signing a Peace Treaty.
Commerce resumed andIndia supplied Japan with iron ore to reconstruct and rehabilitate Japan afterthe devastation of the World War II. Japanese PM visited India in 1957 andJapan started providing loans/aid to India.
During the cold war era,the relationship between India and Japan were constrained due to Japan aligningwith the USA, which was assisting Japan in its World War II reconstruction andIndia’s pursuing a non-aligned foreign policy.
Relations During Recent Times
During the Narasima RaoGovernment, India initiated the Look East policy, which was carried forward bysubsequent PMs, like Atal Behari Vajpai and Manmohan Singh, posited Japan as akey partner and since 1986 India is the largest recipient of Japan’s OfficialDevelopment Assistance.
Relationship betweenthese two countries suffered a setback after the Pokhran-II nuclear weapon testby India, as Japan imposed economic sanctions on India. The sanctions werelifted after three years.
Ever since then therelationship has improved exponentially, and a number of manufacturingcompanies, like Sony, Suzuki, Toyota and Honda established their facilities inIndia.
Japan has also financeda number of infrastructure development projects, the most notable being theDelhi Metro.
The year 2007 wasdeclared as the Indo-Japanese Friendship year and a number of economic anddefence related cooperations were initiated. Japanese Self Defence Forces andthe Indian Navy participated in a joint exercise in the Indian Ocean.
Japanese PM, Shinzo Abewas invited as the chief guest for 2014 Republic Day Parade.
The recently concludedvisit of PM Modi to Japan has opened vistas for cooperation and the twocountries have signed an agreement on ‘India-Japan Special Strategic and GlobalPartnership’.
Benefits to India of Improving Ties With Japan
Catalyze India EconomicGrowth
Japan ranks India as themost promising overseas investment destination over the long term. Japancurrently is India’s fourth largest FDI source.
After having assisted inthe Delhi Metro Project and a railway project between Mumbai-Delhi, Japan isnow in the process of discussing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project,Dedicated Freight Corridor Project on the Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi- Howrah routesand Chinnai-Banglore Industrial Corridor Project.
Since the signing ofComprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2010, Japan has set up manyprominent companies in India. During PM Modi’s recent visit to Japan, PM ShinzoAbe pledged $35 billion in private and public investments.
These funds will be usedto improve Indian manufacturing skills, create ‘smart cities’, electronicsindustrial parks, build high speed rail lines and urban subways, clean up riverGanga, produce clean energy and speed up rural development.
China is the largestimporter of Indian raw materials and exports the finished products back toIndia resulting in a huge trade deficit (value of import from India is lowerthan the value of export for China) in favour of China. It was $1 billion in2002 and has nearly reached $ 35 billion as on date.
Besides, the cheaperChinese goods flooding the Indian markets (through legal and illegal route)give an unreasonable competition to Indian manufacturers, thereby stemmingtheir growth prospects. A very low profit margin is the major reason for ourmanufacturing sector to be lagging behind.
Hence, China canleverage its financial clout by arm twisting India, since it is a majorsupplier of power and telecom equipment to India and also it provides loans toIndian companies in financial distress.
China finds India as itsmain regional competitor, and is therefore systematically trying to prune itsaspirations at the nascent stages only. Collaborating with Japan will restrictChinese monopoly and prevent Sino-centric Asia.
Ensure FavourableBalance of Power in Asia
China is following apolicy of slowly nibbling at land and maritime boundaries of neighbouring countries.Claiming islands in the South China and East China Seas allows China to extendits maritime border, the same has two advantages.
Firstly, abundantnatural resources and oil reserves that lie untapped become intrinsicallyavailable to China and it is able to control the energy supplies and transportroutes across a major portion of the world’s busiest waterways.
Secondly, China hasestablished an Air Defensive Identification Zone over the areas claimed by itin the South China Sea (which is roughly 80% of it), through which it restrictsthe fly past of aircrafts of other countries. Thus, effectively expanding itsinternational frontiers.
The historic‘India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ agreement signed duringthe visit of PM Modi to Japan will facilitate cooperation on defencetechnology, maritime security and create means to deter aggression and ensurefavourably balance of power in the Indo- Pacific region.
Finally, to conclude,the strong convergence of economic and security interests of the two countriesis likely to cement the relationship significantly and this liaison will fostera new dimension to India’s pursuit to growth and sustainable development.
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Facilitator and Trainer. He specialises in memory management, EQ and SQ. Has a vast experience in group skills development. , Ex Member Services Selection Board. (Trained at Defence Institute of Psychological Research, DRDO in Psychology with special focus on Competency based Evaluation through Group Dynamics) Held numerous training and motivational programmes on Leadership and Team Building for over 22 years. He is an expert in memory management.
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Deepak Tomar
I’m Deepak Tomar. I have completed my M.Tech in Computer Science and now i am working as a Govt. Employee in UP Police, I Love to help others and making friends, you can connect to me on facebook for any help- I will be happy to help you .
