Framing India–Japan Ties for a Progressive Indo-Pacific

Abstract

Emerging as two of the most crucial partners within the Indo-Pacific region, India and Japan are steadily finding ground for collaboration over converging strategic interests. Since 2015 under Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi’s leadership, India–Japan relations have become increasingly action-driven, yet leaving plenty of room for collaboration in the defense and economic spheres. As Japan’s newly elected and 100th Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepares to hold the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit, it is worth evaluating the trajectory and scope of India–Japan ties, especially against the backdrop of a progressing Indo-Pacific. This chapter argues that the developing collaboration between India and Japan is drawing the two nations closer together, transforming ties from a simple political relationship to a profoundly active one. With India and Japan celebrating their 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2022, the ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’ between the two countries indicates that it has stood the test of time, promising to be a crucial carrier of their shared values of peace, prosperity, democracy, pluralism, open society, rule of law, human rights, free trade and a rules-based maritime order. This chapter analyzes the bilateral synergy between the two and what future role it must take on to contribute to a progressive Indo-Pacific region. Third-country cooperation, multilateralism and common security threats from an assertive and increasingly aggressive China are important elements shaping India–Japan cooperation. In particular, the growing threat of Chinese influence in the spheres of security and economics of the region draws the two countries closer together, as they seek to gain footing on various joint initiatives countering Chinese influence in the region. Concurrently, the two emerge as strong contenders as partners in the region for EU countries, furthering India–Japan engagement with the EU. India–Japan involvement in various regional groupings, naval exercises, as well as Quad initiatives strengthens their partnership and furthermore, could provide much needed stability in a rapidly changing regional theater.