The visit of the Japanese Emperor and Empress to India comes at a time when the relationship between New Delhi and Tokyo, earlier focussed narrowly on trade and economic aid, is fast diversifying
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are scheduled to make an official visit to India from November 30 to December 5. As the Japanese Government stated, India had long been eager to invite the imperial dignitaries and the joint statement signed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May made a specific reference to it. Subsequently, both Governments worked meticulously to finalise the visit.
The imperial couple are no strangers to this country, having visited in December 1960, soon after their wedding. It was a memorable visit for them for two reasons. First, they travelled fairly extensively across the country and visited then Calcutta, Patna, Gaya, Agra and then Bombay. Second, they were welcomed at Delhi airport by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, President Rajendra Prasad and Vice President S Radhakrishnan. Far senior in age and experience, the three Indian leaders themselves paid separate visits to Japan between 1956 and 1958, and met Emperor Hirohito and the Crown Prince. Those were critical years for Japan when the country was frantically trying to regain its identity in Asia, after its traumatic experiences in World War II.
There is a great expectation in both countries that the present imperial visit will mark a watershed that will give further impetus to the expanding India-Japan ties. The fact that the royal dignitaries have drastically reduced their overseas visits in recent years due to health reasons further underlines the importance that they attach to India. It is well-known that under the Japanese Constitution, the Emperor is a symbol of the state and of the unity of the people. His activities, therefore, are matters of the state and not related to Government. He is not directly concerned with Japan’s foreign policy. His overseas visits are managed by the Japanese Government with a focus on fostering better relations with the other country. By choosing India for the royal visit, the Government of Japan has clearly shown its interest in consolidating its partnership with New Delhi.
The imperial couple’s visit comes at a time when the India-Japan bilateral partnership is robust, stable and multi-faceted. Until recently, the relationship was focussed rather narrowly on trade, investment and economic assistance. But today the partnership has diversified to cover a wide range of subjects like counter-terrorism, maritime security, energy cooperation, UN reforms and climate change. Both countries share common concerns on regional security and economic cooperation.
Not only do they participate in regional forums like the Asean Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit, they have also signed a bilateral agreement on security cooperation accompanied by an action plan. Stressing that their security cooperation is not directed against any third country, they, at the same time, do not want to see any single country emerge as a regional hegemon and upset the prevailing geo-strategic equillibrium. Both have categorically stated their opposition to any country attempting to change the status quo in the region by force. Both are firm in their belief that freedom of navigation in the oceans should be respected by all countries. In addition, both have also signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that is expected to boost trade and investment ties.
Both India and Japan have taken prompt follow-up action to carry forward several proposals mentioned in the Singh-Abe joint statement signed in May. First, a joint working group has been established to explore the modalities for India’s purchase of US-2 amphibious aircraft from Japan. At the time of the Asia-Europe meeting held in New Delhi earlier this month, Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid agreed to hold the first session of the joint working group to implement the export of US amphibious aircraft to India.
Second, both countries have also decided to hold a joint naval exercise between the Indian Navy and the Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force by the end of the year. This will be the second such exercise, the first being in June 2012. Both countries attach great importance to joint cooperation in ensuring maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region where China’s naval profile is rapidly increasing and posing serious challenges.
Third, both Mr Khurshid and Mr Kishida have also agreed to have civilian nuclear cooperation between their countries. The present lDP administration of Mr Abe is inclined to accelerate the negotiations. The fourth round of bilateral talks was conducted in September this year, though without any result. The subject was also again discussed at the fifth India-Japan-US trilateral meeting held in Tokyo on November 13 and 14. At the trilateral, they discussed undertaking ‘third country projects’ that would involve the joint efforts of the three countries.
lastly, Japan’s official development assistance has been a major pillar of the partnership, and India has been the biggest recipient of Japan’s aid for the several years. In their recent meeting, both Mr Khurshid and Mr Kishida signed an agreement providing Japanese loans for major infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu and improving education and environment research at Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad.
There has been a deepening of Japan’s involvement in India’s infrastructure development including metro rail projects in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai. In addition, Japan is involved in the implementation of two major flagship projects — the Delhi-Mumbai-Freight Corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. It is also getting involved in the execution of the newly planned Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor project.
Despite all these developments, there is still a feeling that the potential of the bilateral partnership has not been fully tapped. For instance, the total volume of bilateral trade in 2012 amounted to only about $18 billion even after the CEPA came into effect. Similarly, there is enormous scope for augmenting Japanese private investment in India.
looking ahead, one can hope that Indian and Japanese interests will continue to converge, leading to the strengthening of the bilateral partnership. In this sense, the present Imperial visit is expected to provide a strong impetus. This will be further buttressed by the visit of Prime Minister Abe in January next year.
(The author is a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, where he leads the Japanese Studies Programme, and a former professor of Japanese Studies at the JNU)