INDIA-JAPAN RELATIONS

1. Historical Background

• Exchange between Japan and India is said to have begun in the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Indian culture, filtered through Buddhism, has had a great impact on Japanese culture, and this is the source of the Japanese people's sense of closeness to India.
• After World War II, in 1949, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated an Indian elephant to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. This brought a ray of light into the lives of the Japanese people who still had not recovered from defeat in the war. Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April 1952. This treaty was one of the first peace treaties Japan signed after World War II.
• Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have enjoyed cordial relations. 
• In the post-World War II period, India's iron ore helped a great deal in Japan's recovery from the devastation. 

2. About

• India and Japan are committed to working together to promote peace, stability and prosperity, through economic growth and development in the Indo-Pacific, including Africa, by enhancing connectivity through quality infrastructure and capacity building of our partners. 
• Both countries are of firm belief that all development cooperation must be carried out in an open, transparent and non-exclusive manner and based on international standards including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, responsible debt financing practices, and in alignment with local economic and development strategies and priorities.
• While Japan has been one of the biggest sources of investment flows into India, accounting for $28.16 billion in FDI between April 2000 and June 2018, trade engagements have been below potential. On the list of countries that India exports to, Japan is a lowly 18th; on the list of countries importing into India, Japan ranks 12th.
• Both India and Japan believe that their development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific can contribute to unlocking the potential for an equitable, positive and forward-looking change in the region, and contribute to the socio-economic development of Africa.

3. The partnership in the economic domain

• Cooperation on the development of connectivity in the Indo-Pacific region, including in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh as well as in Africa.
• In this regard, the two Prime Ministers welcomed the discussions for establishing the "Platform for Japan-India Business Cooperation in Asia-Africa Region” to further enhance the exchanges between Japanese and Indian businesses toward developing industrial corridors and industrial networks in the region.
• India-Japan Act East Forum identifies and implements projects for enhancing connectivity, sustainable forest and ecological management, disaster risk reduction and people-to-people exchanges. They also highlighted the importance of developing smart islands in India.
• Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, which is an important symbol of India-Japan collaboration marked by the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. 
• Japan’s role in promoting connectivity through quality infrastructure projects such as the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is immense 
• India welcomed Japan’s strong support for key transformational initiatives such as "Make in India”, "Skill India” and "Clean India Mission”, through sharing of resources and advanced technologies, and active mobilization of the Japanese public and private sector investments. 
• Both countries recognise the close cooperation in Intellectual Property Rights between the Intellectual Property Offices of the two countries
• Japan’s Foreign Direct Investment in India under the "India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership”, the progress made in Japan Industrial Townships (JIT) and other initiatives included in the Japan-India Roadmap for Investment Promotion. 
• Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) of USD 75 billion about External Commercial Borrowing (ECB), no mandatory hedging will be required for infrastructure ECB of more than 5 years minimum average maturity.
• Japan-India Institutes for Manufacturing (Jims) as well as the Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC) in various Indian states. 
• Cooperation in human resource development and exchanges, including through utilizing frameworks such as Japan’s "Innovative Asia” initiative, and the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) will be further promoted, aligning with the emerging demands of the industry.
• India-Japan Digital Partnership with the vision to develop IoT and AI solutions for societal benefits and explore collaboration in emerging technologies by utilizing the "Japan-India Start-Up Hub” having a convergence between India’s flagship programmes such as "Digital India”, "Start-Up India” and "Smart City” with Japan’s "Society 5.0” to promote societal benefits. 
• People-to-people exchanges are at the core of the India-Japan partnership and noted with satisfaction the growing cultural, educational, parliamentary, academic and Track 1.5 engagements, including the "Indo-Pacific Forum”. 

4. Challenges in India-Japan Relations

• India’s exports to Japan in FY20 were lower than in FY18 in overall value.
• India and Japan have come a long way in their economic cooperation which is appreciable but India needs to take a vital stand as China-Japan economic ties are 30 times more than that of India
• India's access to the Japanese market is limited as India is struggling with various sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
• Exchanges associated with defence equipment are barely seen between the two democracies.
• Though there are common interests in tackling china but common measures associated to replace china are barely seen.
• Concerns regarding China’s intentions in the Indo-Pacific region have led to strengthening bilateral cooperation, but none wish to threaten China with the developing partnership. 

5. Need of the Hour

• While the huge economic opportunity in India draws attention from across the world there is a need to attract Japanese companies to invest in India.
• India can aid as a competitive replacement for china.
• Issues of India’s insistence on data localisation and reluctance to accede to global cybersecurity agreements such as the Budapest Convention needs to be discussed.
• Defense ties need to be made for a more dynamic exchange of defence equipment and technologies.
• India-Japan summit should reaffirm Japan’s support for key manufacturing initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and the Japan Industrial Townships.