India-Japan bonding

This refers to the editorial "Natural partners" (May 30). One must wonder why Indo-Japanese economic ties have been so comatose for years now. Japan had become inward-looking - fighting for almost a decade a persistently stagnant economy. It has since spurred itself into an aggressive rebuild mode under its new premier. This comes at a time when India, too, seems to have shed its laxity, after being transfixed by China's global trade blitz and its own internal faults. India's enormous appetite for new infrastructure today is matched by the established ken of the Japanese.

While China is overflowing with resources and large-scale cheap labour, Japan is dependent on external sourcing. It has taken its strength from design, planning and optimising cost and time. This should prove useful, given the global commodity prices are also declining. A fast-track tie-up with Japan on critical infrastructure projects can serve interests of both nations. A report shows that India may be overtaking Japan to be the third-largest economy in purchasing-parity terms. This must provide us the required confidence to act the part, and promptly move to scale up trade and economic transactions with our old ally, Japan.