By Ankit Panda
India-Japan ties will be “conducive” to regional peace and stability — by forming a bulwark against Chinese ambitions.
India-Japan relations popped up at the top of China’s radar this past week after Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan completed a historic and rare visit in India. On Monday, China said that it hoped that India’s relations with Japan would be “conducive” to regional peace and stability, according to The Hindu.One can only imagine that China dreads a united India-Japan front against its interests in the Asia-Pacific.
In return, a senior Japanese diplomat, Sakutaro Tanino, who accompanied the Emperor to New Delhi and served as Japanese Ambassador to both India and China, clarified that the visit served an explicitly bilateral function. He juxtaposed the depth of Japan’s ties with China with its ties with India: “The difference in Japan’s ties with China and its ties with India is staggering. This visit gives us another moment of proximity with India.”
The Imperial visit speaks volumes in its symbolism and solidifies Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s vision for a robust partnership between Asia’s wealthiest democracy and its largest one. Abe, perhaps Japan’s most indophilic prime minister yet, set out grand visions during his first term as PM in 2006-2007 for a strategic quadrangle consisting of Japan, India, Australia and the United States — something China perceived as tantamount to an Asian NATO, out to balance a rising China.
Read the full story at The Diplomat