External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Japan from March 28 to 30. She will co-chair the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue with Japan’s foreign minister Taro Kono on March 29. The two sides will also review all aspects of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest, a release from the ministry of external affairs has stated.
India and Japan concluded a special strategic and global partnership during Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Tokyo visit in 2014. Japan is one of the largest investors in India, with a growing presence in infrastructure projects, manufacturing, financial markets and capacity building. Japan is associated with the development of Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi smart cities.
India also conducts the annual trilateral naval exercise, Malabar, with Japan, the third country being the US. Malabar was originally a bilateral with the US while Japan joined in 2015. Australia has requested observer status this year.
Japan becomes increasingly important for India in a bid to counter rising Chinese influence in the region. The revival of the Quad (US-Japan-India-Australia association) last year was a significant step towards developing a counter narrative to China’s.
Indo-Japan ties have progressed significantly in the last few years. The signing of the Indo-Japan civil nuclear deal in 2016, which came into force last year, was a huge leap of faith for Japan, given that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The deal will enable Japan to export nuclear power plant technology to India as well as to assist India in nuclear waste management.
