Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo showed India’s interest in building a strategic partnership with Japan. Delhi is unwilling to antagonize Beijing and relations between China and Japan are strained. Delhi is anxious to seek an entente cordiale with China. However, the re- election of Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister of Japan has strengthened India’s ties with that country. Abe had boosted ties with India significantly during 2006-07. Chinese incursion into Ladakh last month exposed the fragility of India’s ties with China. So the mission to Japan was important. Manmohan Singh has described Japan as a “natural and indispensable partner” in the economic modernization of India. He also complimented Abe on his sustained effort to stage an economic recovery in his country. Singh said that Japan was the head of resurgent Asia. The Japanese Prime Minister wants bilateral negotiations with India on civil nuclear energy cooperation to be concluded soon. India’s commitment to a unilateral and voluntary moratorium on testing nuclear weapons was reiterated. Abe promised to support India’s full inclusion in the global non- proliferation order. Japan has also agreed to step up its assistance to India’s infrastructure development, including a high speed railway system.
The accord covered bilateral defence cooperation, joint naval exercises, modalities for the Indian purchase of Japanese amphibian aircraft and disaster relief in the Indian Ocean. But the negotiations are not to be treated as targeted against China. Delhi however has no reason to be apologetic about the new Japanese connection. China makes no bones of forming links with Pakistan. Delhi and Tokyo cannot be oblivious to the danger of China becoming a super military power. Singh has taken a step in the right direction and the statements in Tokyo should not be regarded as ritualistic homilies.
