Amid the raging election fever in the world’s most populous democracy and fraying Beijing-Tokyo ties, India’s top diplomat is in Japan to lay the groundwork for sustaining momentum in this critical bilateral relationship that holds the key to a balanced regional order in Asia.
India’s Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh began her four-day visit to Tokyo April 23 with a preliminary round of talks with Deputy Foreign Minister of Japan Shinsuke Sugiyama. Singh is set to hold wide-ranging talks with Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki, and will also meet senior officials from Japan’s Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The wide-ranging talks will see the two Asian democracies discuss a host of issues like prospects of a long-negotiated civil nuclear deal, increasing Japanese investments in India and enhanced cooperation to deal with a spectrum of cross-cutting challenges like piracy, terrorism and cyber security.
The talks are aimed at setting the stage for a string of high-profile visits and a marked acceleration of bilateral ties under the next government in New Delhi, which is set to be formed after the results of the ongoing elections are declared on May 16.
The economic relations between Asia’s second and third largest economies are blossoming, with bilateral trade currently estimated to be USD 18.61 billion. Japan is a leading foreign investor in India with around $12.66 billion FDI, which is concentrated in automobile, electrical equipment, telecommunications, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.
Building on the current momentum in bilateral relations, the next government, likely to be led by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, is expected to galvanise this critical relationship as both Modi and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are known to be ardent nationalists and votaries of strong India-Japan relationship. Modi was among one of the first foreign dignitaries to congratulate Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe when he was re-elected for a second term in late 2012. As Gujarat chief minister, he also visited Japan in 2012 and has managed to attract massive Japanese investment into his state.
Significantly, India’s top diplomat’s visit has coincided with US President Barack Obama’s trip to Tokyo, which is seen among some sections of the strategic community as a signal to China to restrain its perceived assertiveness in the region, especially vis-à-vis Japan over the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
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