About Japan
- Japan is a island nation located at North Pacific Ocean with its capital at Tokyo.
Areas of Cooperation
- Historical Ties
- Ancient Buddhist Links: Buddhism spread from India to Japan in the 6th century.
- Indian Leaders: Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Subhas Chandra Bose had historical interactions with Japan.
- Japan’s Support During India’s Independence Movement: Japan supported Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) during World War II.
- Political and Diplomatic Relations
- Initial Step: Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to India in 1957.
- Special Strategic and Global Partnership (2014): Focus on defense, technology, and economic ties.
- Annual Summits: Regular meetings between the Prime Ministers of both countries.
- Act East Policy & Indo-Pacific Vision: India’s Act East Policy aligns with Japan’s Indo-Pacific Strategy to counter China’s growing influence.
- Support for India’s UN Security Council Membership: Japan supports India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC.
- Economic and Trade Relations
- Investment in India
- 5th largest investor in India (FDI inflows of $38 billion since 2000).
- Key sectors are automobiles, infrastructure, high-speed rail, electronics.
- Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) (2011)
- Aims to reduce tariffs and boost trade.
- Bilateral trade (2022-23): $20 billion.
- Major Infrastructure Projects:
- Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train (Shinkansen) Project.
- Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
- Smart Cities & Metro Projects.
- Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA): Provides loans and assistance for Indian projects.
- Investment in India
- Defense and Security Cooperation
- Agreements: In October 2008, two leaders signed “the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India” during the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan.
- 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue: Between Foreign & Defense Ministers.
- Defense Exercises:
- JIMEX (Navy), SHINYUU Maitri (Air Force), Dharma Guardian (Army).
- Malabar Exercise: India, Japan, US, and Australia (Quad).
- Defense Technology & Equipment Collaboration: Talks on US-2 Amphibious Aircraft procurement.
- QUAD Alliance: India and Japan, along with the US & Australia, work on ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.
- Science, Technology and Digital Cooperation
- 5G and AI Cooperation: Japan supports India’s digital transformation.
- Space Collaboration: Japan’s JAXA collaborates with ISRO for future lunar missions.
- Cybersecurity & Semiconductor Manufacturing: Japanese companies investing in India.
- Agreements and Initiatives
- An Inter-Governmental Agreement signed in 1985 codified bilateral S&T cooperation.
- The India-Japan Digital Partnership (IJDP), which focuses more on “Digital ICT Technologies,” was introduced in October 2018 and aims to advance both current areas of collaboration and new initiatives within the context of S&T/ICT cooperation.
- The launch of the DST-JSPS Fellowship Programme for young researchers, as well as the creation of three India-Japan Joint Laboratories in the field of ICT (AI, IoT, and Big Data), are recent initiatives.
- Health Care
- Japan’s ASHWIN and India’s AYUSHMAN Bharat Programme have been working together together.
- Cultural & People-to-People Ties
- Indian Diaspora in Japan: Around 40,000 Indians, mainly IT professionals.
- Educational Ties: Indian students in Japanese universities have increased.
- Tokyo-Varanasi Sister City Agreement: Strengthening cultural exchanges.
Challenges in the Relations
- Trade Imbalance: India’s exports to Japan are low compared to imports.
- Slow Implementation of Projects: Bullet train project facing delays.
- China Factor: Japan is a US ally, while India follows strategic autonomy.