India-Japan bilateral set to scale new peaks
Prime Minster Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Japan bears special significance as it will witness further progress on the bilateral civil-nuclear agreement. This will also mark the coming of the third annual summit meeting between the countries which started in 2014, when Modi visited Japan. It was the first tour of the Prime Minister, which he undertook outside India's immediate neighbourhood. It paved the way for building deeper ties with the liberal Democratic Government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came to power for the second time in 2012. During Modi's visit, the India-Japan relationship was upgraded to the level of ‘special strategic and global partnership'. When the second summit meeting between India and Japan took place in Delhi in 2015, both Modi and Abe outlined a ‘vision of working together for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world'.
This summit will bring new opportunities for both the leaders to strengthen their ties in bilateral, regional and global fronts of mutual interest to further accelerate the broad-based and action-oriented partnership in the days to come. Building on the historical relationship between the two nations, Prime Minister Modi's second visit to Japan within a span of two years, will be significant also for several other engagements on trade and cultural fronts. The nuclear deal, which was initiated in 2008, will be a kind of watershed for Japan once concluded, as it will be with a nation that has not signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty. Though the final details of the agreement are reported to have been already worked out during the recent visit of the Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, the move may draw criticism from citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as promoting proliferation efforts.
However, the sticking point is that Japan may ask India to allow the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit the designated sites where the nuclear spent fuel is to be re-processed. Further, sources said that India may also be restricted from conducting fresh nuclear tests if the treaty comes into effect. These all may be difficult for India to agree on. Hence, Prime Minister Modi needs to chalk out a strategy to move beyond the complications so that the long-drawn negotiations on this crucial agreement come to a logical conclusion. Besides, there will be joint meetings to explore possibilities for enhancing tourist revenue. There are proposals doing the rounds to rope in Hindi film actors to increase the number of Japanese tourists to India by at least five-fold over the current number. Sources said that Modi is in a mood to bring home more Japanese investments to upgrade infrastructure, manufacturing, and for the upcoming network of ‘smart cities'. Simultaneously, Abe is equally trying to push the Japanese economy, stuck in a holding pattern for the last two decades. Hence, both leaders must seize the opportunity.