The return of Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister of Japan five years after the end of an year-long stint bodes well for India. In his previous term as prime minister in 2006-07, Abe was well disposed towards India and had even visited this country and addressed the Indian Parliament. He has returned at a time when Japan’s effective control of Senkaku islands in the South China Sea is being challenged by China which claims the islands as its own. China also lays claim to the island chain which it calls the Diaoyu which Japan regards as its own.
In that context, Abe sees the need for a strategic partnership with the US which he is keen to extend to India and Australia as a counterpoise to China’s hegemonistic designs. With India itself embroiled in a territorial dispute with China over Arunachal Pradesh and some other areas, a strategic alliance will ensure that New Delhi is not isolated in the event of a Chinese attempt to browbeat her. A strategic partnership with India is not only in the interest of both the countries but also for the peace and prosperity of the region.
Addressing the Indian Parliament in 2007, Abe had carefully articulated that the Indian and Pacific countries were seamlessly connected and that ‘when we build a community in Asia, maritime democracies should lead the pack’. He was instrumental in Japan providing support for the western dedicated freight rail corridor and the conceptualisation of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.
Similar help can now be expected from Japan for developing an industrial corridor on the Chennai-Bangalore-Hyderabad route and the introduction of a high-speed Shinkansen train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Without significant international financial and technical assistance, neither of these capital-intensive projects is feasible. Eager to kick-start its own economy in the process, Japan seems India’s best bet for creating such infrastructure.
In that context, Abe sees the need for a strategic partnership with the US which he is keen to extend to India and Australia as a counterpoise to China’s hegemonistic designs. With India itself embroiled in a territorial dispute with China over Arunachal Pradesh and some other areas, a strategic alliance will ensure that New Delhi is not isolated in the event of a Chinese attempt to browbeat her. A strategic partnership with India is not only in the interest of both the countries but also for the peace and prosperity of the region.
Addressing the Indian Parliament in 2007, Abe had carefully articulated that the Indian and Pacific countries were seamlessly connected and that ‘when we build a community in Asia, maritime democracies should lead the pack’. He was instrumental in Japan providing support for the western dedicated freight rail corridor and the conceptualisation of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.
Similar help can now be expected from Japan for developing an industrial corridor on the Chennai-Bangalore-Hyderabad route and the introduction of a high-speed Shinkansen train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Without significant international financial and technical assistance, neither of these capital-intensive projects is feasible. Eager to kick-start its own economy in the process, Japan seems India’s best bet for creating such infrastructure.
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