Indian Council of World Affairs

Amb. Sanjay Kumar Verma, Ambassador of India to Japan

Amb. Hiroshi Hirabayashi, former Ambassador of Japan to India and the President/Representative Director of the Japan-India Association, Tokyo who is the Keynote speaker.

We have been joined by 3 distinguished Ambassadors of India to Japan, who will chair three sessions.

Amb. Deepa Wadhwa, former Ambassador of India to Japan/Chairperson of the India-Japan Friendship Forum

Amb. H.K. Singh, Director General, Delhi Policy Group/Former Ambassador of India to Japan

Amb. Sujan Chinoy, Director General, MP-IDSA, New Delhi, Former Ambassador of India to Japan & Honorary Patron, Indo-Japan Friendship Association (Gujarat)

Warm welcome also Mr. Kawazu Kunihiko, Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome all distinguished Chairs and Participants to this one-day conference on India-Japan Relations at 70: Reflections and Way Forward.

India-Japan relations are rooted in strong cultural and civilizational linkages, dating back to the 8^th century AD.

Nonetheless, the seven decades of relations between India and Japan, as two independent modern nation-states, has been a distinct and the most dynamic phase in the long history of our bilateral ties.

On April 28, 1952, India and Japan signed the Treaty of Peace and established diplomatic relations. Since then, cooperation and collaboration between our two countries, has grown from strength to strength.

India-Japan relations have seen a strong upswing since the dawn of the 21^st The new dynamism is an outcome of the Global Partnership concluded in 2000, which was later upgraded to Strategic and Global Partnership in 2006 and Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014.

This momentum has continued even during the COVID crisis, as has been witnessed during the recent visit of Japanese PM Fumio Kishida to India in March early this year. Today, Japan is India's trusted and reliable partner.

Thus, the 70^th anniversary of the India-Japan bilateral diplomatic relations this year is an important milestone. It is also an occasion to celebrate, especially as it coincides with 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' - the 75^th anniversary of India's Independence.

Allow me to share some of my thoughts on what I think are the important features of the past and present state of relations, and the way to take it forward.

One, remarkable aspect of India-Japan relations is that there has been no period of hostility between the two nations.

The second important feature has been the remarkable transformation in the scope and scale of the relations. Over the last two decades, what was once a narrow bilateral relationship has transformed into a regional and global partnership. The regional dimension of the relationship is reflected in the convergence between New Delhi and Tokyo on maintaining a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. India-Japan have forged close cooperation in ASEAN led forums, in QUAD, and in other trilaterals in Indo-Pacific.  This is a manifestation of the evolution of the relations adjusting to a changing regional order. Similarly, our global conversation includes joint efforts to reform the UN system, climate change, resilient supply chain etc.  

The third aspect is that the relationship has become genuinely and deeply strategic. Our interest and perspectives on strategic and international issues are more aligned than ever before. Moreover, there is a firm belief in both countries that a 'strong India is in the interest of Japan' and vice versa. Tokyo and New Delhi perceive policies of each other as strategically relevant to their calculations and share a vision of a multi-polar international order.

The fourth feature is the high level of the institutionalization of the relationship over the last two decades. India-Japan relations today enjoy a high level of leadership commitments built on the strong foundation of personal relations between the leaders. However, it has also become highly institutionalized at political, official and sectoral levels. Perhaps, no other bilateral relationship of India is as institutionalized as India-Japan relations.

Even though the defence and security component of the relationship is relatively new, it has actually progressed remarkably fast. Cooperation between our military services has increased substantially in recent years and has been reflected by the growing number of military exercises. The signing of the reciprocal provision of supply and services agreement in 2020 further highlighted the growing defence and security cooperation between the two countries.  It is a practical manifestation of our ability and intent to work together for stability in Asia.

From an Indian perspective, Japan is a partner for India’s economic modernization. Recent years have seen a substantial increase in Japanese support for Indian infrastructure projects, including the several metro projects, transport and economic corridors, high-speed railway, connectivity projects in Northeast India, Smart Island projects in Andaman, to name a few.

The landscape of economic cooperation has also significantly transformed. What was mainly a G-to G affair focused on Japanese ODI is now enhanced to a great extent by the expansion of the business-to-business component of the economic interaction and increasing flow of Japanese investments.

The development and economic partnership have also acquired a new momentum, with India and Japan exploring ‘third country partnership’.  This move is indicative of high level of comfort and trust between our two countries.

Anniversaries like this are important opportunities for envisioning the future direction of bilateral relations. Such an exercise is very critical in today's context as the global geopolitical and geoeconomics landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. International order has become more fragile as the world is dealing with the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic, intensification of rivalry between the US and China, and geo-strategic disruptions like Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Russia’s military action in Ukraine is a major geopolitical event with long term consequences. We are already seeing many implications of it ranging from issues related to food security, energy security and long-term humanitarian crisis. Situation in Afghanistan continues to be unsettled and of deep concern.  It is important that the world does not relegate Afghanistan to the background due to Ukraine.  The situation in Sri Lanka is also very alarming as the country is going through the worst economic crisis since its independence resulting in political changes.

The Indo-Pacific region is also witnessing increasing strategic competition.  Apart from the economic dynamism of the region, major consequential factor influencing the recent geopolitical canvas is China’s asymmetric rise, its increasing foothold and assertiveness across the region and US-China contestations.

In addressing the challenges of the post-pandemic international order both India and Japan have recalibrated their respective foreign policy. Under the foreign policy vision of ‘Realism-based Diplomacy for a New Era’ Prime Minister Kishida, who assumed office last year, has shown a strong desire to step up Japan’s international role, a path set out by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and continued under PM Suga. PM Kishida’s foreign policy resolve is further reflected in his strong commitments to the vision of ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision’, a pledge to strengthen Japan’s defense capability, emphasis on economic security to ensure resilient supply chains, commitment to climate mitigation by making Japan a global leader in green technology.

It is encouraging to see a growing desire in Japan to play a greater security role. India welcomes a proactive Japan in the security affairs of the Indo-Pacific.

India’s foreign policy is pro-actively contributing to global and regional challenges, several times as a first responder, as has been reflected through greater commitment to disaster assistance, health diplomacy, maritime security, infrastructure development, climate mitigation.

The ongoing regional balance of power transition provides new avenues for cooperation. Our emphasis should be on how to capitalize these new opportunities to strengthen partnership in various sectors. In the sessions later today, the specific new and potential areas of cooperation especially in the Indo-Pacific will be discussed and explored in detail.

In a world of increasingly rapid changes and greater uncertainty, strong India-Japan relations is a hope for security, stability and prosperity.

As Japan prepares to host the Quad summit in May 2022 and as India prepares to hold the G20 Presidency in 2022-23, both countries are uniquely positioned to participate in, and shape key debates on issues of regional and global significance.

The ability of being sensitive and respecting each other’s core interests without undermining the relationship is the hallmark of a true friendship. Japan-India relations have weathered the test of time and will remain strong friends in the years to come.

With the participation of leading experts from India and Japan, the conference is an excellent platform for discussing the past, present and future of the India-Japan relations. We look forward to the deliberations and discussions during the course of the one-day conference.

*****