Alarmed by the precedent set by Russia which has invaded Ukraine, Japan on Saturday signalled that it would like to deepen strategic bonds with India to ensure that Moscow’s move does not encourage China to upset a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
“In Japan’s perception, the unilateral use of force by Russia in Ukraine has impacted the Asian Security landscape,” says Shikata Noriyuki, Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs at the Japanese Prime Minister’s office, in a conversation with the media.
Without naming China, he pointed out that the precedent set by Russia can encourage players in the Indo-Pacific region to undermine Japanese security. Noriyuki is accompanying Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who has embarked on his maiden visit to India.
Japan has a serious maritime dispute with China over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. An ally of the United States, Tokyo is also in the cross-hairs of China-ally North Korea, which has a history developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Besides, Japan is worried that the current situation and diversion of global attention towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict can encourage China to invade strategically located Taiwan and break the first island chain, which discourages Beijing from grossly expanding its maritime military influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Unsurprisingly, Japan is of the view that after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, it is “critical” for partner countries to solidly and collectively ensure a, “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”– a doctrine that was first aired by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“In the recent Japan-Australia-India-US (Quad) Leaders’ Video Conference, in which Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and I participated, we concurred that any attempt to change the Status Quo by force, such as this time, must not be tolerated in the Indo-Pacific region , and that it is precisely because of this situation that it is critical to further promote efforts towards the realisation of a ‘Free and open Indo-Pacific’, ” Prime Minister, Kishida wrote in a newspaper article ahead of his arrival to India.
During the visit, it was evident that India, which has a special relationship with Russia for historical and national security reasons, and Japan, would have to work out a formulation that can reconcile their differences over the Ukrainian issue.
“We are hoping to convince India that we should not condone unilaterally changing the status quo by using force in any region of the world,” Noriyuki observed.
Yet, Indian and Japanese officials told IndiaNarrative.com that it was possible that even if a common formulation was not reached, New Delhi and Tokyo can decouple their differences on Russia from their broad and pressing agenda of strategic collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.
Noriyuki pointed out that India and Japan had identified joint collaboration on cyber-security and development of 6G technology—a move which has a subtext that neither Tokyo nor New Delhi are inclined to rely on advanced Chinese digital technology because of security considerations.
Boosting business linkages with Japan. Watch. https://t.co/XwUcS08DoN
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 19, 2022
The Japanese official said that India-Japan partnership in cutting-edge technologies would help fulfil the Japanese concept of “Economic Security” focusing on Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, as well as foolproof cyber security to prevent data leakage, benefiting India as well. The prolonged friction between the US and China had spurred the Kishida administration to push Economic Security as a legal obligation.
Noriyuki said that Prime Minister Kishida has also pioneered the concept of Sustainable Capitalism, aimed to prevent economic disparity, bring together investments from both the public and private sectors, check the appeal of authoritarianism and foster the “Great transformation of liberal democratic society”.
Also Read: Japan to pledge $42 billion investment in India during Kishida's visit today: Report
