India, Japan Sign 15 MoUs: A Pact For Peace And Prosperity
Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe’s much televised visit to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in mid-September have nuances that spill beyond “bilateralism”. Sure, the state visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was about the 12th India-Japan Annual Summit, a landmark nuclear treaty, the Shinkansen bullet train agreement and a defence agreement for the US-2 ShinMaywa amphibious aircraft. It was also the joining of hands of two natural allies in the region, who now confront a new reality – the emergence of a dragon-like China, which sends periodic ripples into the South China Sea, East China Sea and the Indian Ocean region. The ripples will recur.
Prime Minister Modi defied protocol when he arrived at Ahmedabad airport to receive Abe on September 13. The two leaders, along with Japan’s First Lady, Akie Abe, then took a trip to the Sabarmati Ashram in an open jeep, where they offered tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. On his first visit to Japan in 2014, Modi too had experienced this bonhomie and sensed the immense possibilities of a close cooperation with Japan.
“Everywhere around us, we can see the18th Century expansionist mindset: encroaching on another country, intruding in others’ waters, invading other countries and capturing territory,” was Modi’s prophetic observation in Japan then – three years before China would muscle its way into Burmese territory on the Doklam plateau.
Shinzo Abe used a similar tone in Ahmedabad, when he recalled his own experience with China, when it staked claims over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands between 2012 and 2014. The incident marred Tokyo’s relations with Beijing. That spat ended with a four-point term of reconciliation and a handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping towards the end of 2014.
On a more tangible plane, Abe’s visit enhances economic and technological collaborations between the two nations. The September 13 and September 14 conference was the fourth annual summit between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abe. The two leaders reviewed the progress of the multi-pronged cooperation between India and Japan within the framework of a ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ and set its future course. Japanese firms are expected to invest Rs 5 lakh crore in India over the next few years. Japan is already India’s highest overseas development assistance (ODA) partner and the country’s third largest investor.
Immediate Takeaways
India and Japan signed 15 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on bilateral relations, defence and security cooperation and on supporting each other for a permanent seat on the United Nations’ expanded Security Council. The two countries are committed to align Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy with India’s Act East Policy through enhanced maritime security cooperation, improved connectivity in the wider Indo-Pacific region, strengthening cooperation with ASEAN, and promoting discussions between strategists and experts of the two countries.
India and Japan are committed to enhance defence and security cooperation and dialogues, including Malabar, a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India and other joint exercises.Cooperation has been pledged in defence equipment and technology in areas such as surveillance and unmanned system technologies and in defence production. The two countries are committed to an India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership and to advancing cooperation in energy, smart cities, information and communication technology, space, science and technology, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and health.
Shinkansen Bullet Train
A highlight of Abe’s visit is the laying of the foundation stone of the Mumbai - Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project. The Shinkansen model train will shrink the 316-mile journey from Ahmedabad to Mumbai from eight hours to around three. More than four-fifths of the project’s $19 billion (around Rs 1.1 lakh crore) cost will be funded by a loan at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent from Japan as part of a deepening economic relationship. The loan will be repaid in 50 years .
The bullet train project will spruce up India’s creaking, colonial-era railway system – albeit at a price. Professor Mayakuma, an expert of international repute and chairperson of the University of Tokyo, had confided in me that bullet trains had evoked murmurs about their high cost and feasibility in Japan too. “But, it is now a success story with an impeccable safety track record and has positioned Japan as the leader in hi-tech innovation and brilliance of engineering and science,” he had said.
The Civil Nuclear Deal
The landmark Indo-Japanese civil nuclear deal signed in November 2016 came into effect on 14 September 2017. It will enable Japan to export nuclear power plant technology and provide funds for nuclear power plants in India. Srabani Roy Choudhury, professor at the School of International Studies of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) points out that, “India is the only non-NPT signatory with which Japan has entered into a civil nuclear deal in what can be described as a recognition of Delhi’s impeccable non-proliferation record and this marks a clear strategic and security assistance to India”. Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba, which owns the US nuclear major, Westinghouse, will have a major role when the latter supplies technology for the six reactors in Andhra Pradesh.
The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor
The AAGC is an attempt to create a free and open Indo - Pacific region by rediscovering ancient sea-routes and creating new corridors lining these regions with India. Trade facilitation is a major component of the AAGC Framework. An European Commission study has showed that export and import processes were the slowest in Africa. The AAGC should lead to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, factoring in India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s Expanded Partnership for Quality Infrastructure. India will collaborate with Japan to develop the corridor and is expected to commit about $40 billion for it, along with Japan.
Does India need to hanker for economic cooperation with allies? Let us do a reality check. India, though the fastest growing large economy, has a credit-to-GDP ratio of just about 60 per cent, compared to 193 per cent for China. Other major manufacturing countries in Asia swing in the 130 per cent to 140 per cent range. So, the Indian economy does need a push both in manufacturing and services.
A stronger Indo-Japanese partnership will not only benefit India, but Japan too. Japan has a saturated market, a dwindling rate of growth and an ageing workforce. It has, though, been able to shrug off a decade-old inertia under Prime Minister Abe and the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has expanded by four per cent in the second quarter, fuelled by massive domestic consumption in the build-up to the 2022 Olympic.
So, collaborations between these two disparate economies could lead to new possibilities, while diplomatic ties help shape a new ambience of peace in the region.
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