Shinzo Abe’s victory will boost bilateral relations
The left Democratic Party-led coalition's victory in the Upper House of Japan's Parliament means that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can now push ahead with his reformist agenda without being hemmed by the Opposition which earlier dominated the Upper House. The Government Mr Abe leads now controls 135 of the total 242 seats, and that places the Prime Minister in the driver's seat. While the win is a mandate for the reforms that Mr Abe has promised to unleash to revive his country's fiscal health and bring back the days of glory when Japan led the world in economic robustness, it also shuts the door on any excuse that the Prime Minister and his regime may produce to explain away potential failures. Given that Mr Abe had in his earlier tenure (not a very successful one, though) demonstrated a special fondness for developing close ties with India, and has carried forward that enthusiasm, New Delhi can expect positive movement in the direction of not just further enhancing existing trade ties but also in the opening up of sectors that have not been exploited yet for their full potential. For instance, if Mr Abe revamps his country's information technology sector, it will offer a huge opportunity to the Indian IT industry to move in with its collective expertise. It will be a win-win situation for both New Delhi and Tokyo. The second area of cooperation could be in the crucial civil nuclear industry. Mr Abe could push for the passage of a civil nuclear energy cooperation pact between New Delhi and Tokyo that can be mutually beneficial. While India would get material and technology for the establishment of nuclear power plants, Japan would have access to a large, growing market for its products. But perhaps the most important spin-off of Mr Abe's push for a stronger relationship with India will be felt in the strategic arena, where both India and Japan are on the same page in containing the influence of China in the Asia-Pacific region. The dragon has been troubling both these countries, and that gives them a sound reason to team up as an influential and unapologetic counter-force to Beijing. Since Mr Abe does not see any practical merit in persisting with Japan's historical pacifist stand, more so when it is bullied by others, it is possible that he may discard the policy and even seek military partnership with friends such as India. New Delhi must have the courage to grasp the opportunities and not chicken out for fear of annoying Beijing.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Prime Minister has to fix the economy back home. There are proposals to raise taxes in a bid to cut down on public debts and drastically fix the farming sector. The first could lead to a slump in consumer demand while the latter could pinch employment in the short term. Yet, both proposals are necessary if Mr Abe is to find the money to fund his new projects and proposals, especially the doubling of the defence budget. Mr Abe's intentions are not suspect, nor are his policies. Now, they must work.