India-Japan Ties A Nuclear Halo

Beneath the India-Japan nuclear deal and a joint statement on terrorism lies the foundation of a deep strategic and economic partnership to counter China.

- Aftab Seth

Speaking at Japan’s oldest university, Keio, in 1916, Rabindranath Tagore said the “whole of eastern Asia, from Burma to Japan, was united with India in the closest ties that can exist between nations”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently concluded visit to Japan is to be seen in this historical context and in the wake of a series of prime ministerial visits which, since 2005, have become an annual feature. The close economic cooperation between the two countries, especially the strategic and military dimension, dates to the historic visit of then Japanese PM Yoshiro Mori to India in August 2000, at the invitation of his counterpart here, A.B. Vajpayee. A ‘Global partnership for India and Japan for the 21st century’ was announced. Joint naval and coast guard exercises and annual meetings between the defence and foreign ministries and uniformed military officers of the two countries became a regular affair after this date. The partnership was elevated to a ‘strategic and global partnership’ in December 2006, when then PM Manmohan Singh signed an agreement to this effect in Tokyo with PM Shinzo Abe.