{"id":34200,"date":"2018-10-30T16:17:35","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T10:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34200"},"modified":"2018-10-30T16:17:35","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T10:47:35","slug":"the-japanese-pivot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-japanese-pivot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Japanese pivot:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/todays-paper\/tp-opinion\/the-japanese-pivot\/article19978453.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Japanese pivot<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become staunch supporter of Donald Trump deepening their ties with Trump\u2019s first official trip to Asia from November 5 \u2013 17 to Japan.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Significance of the visit<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will underscore <\/span><b>the close alliance between Japan and the U.S.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at a time of <\/span><b>shifting geopolitical sands in Japan\u2019s neighbourhood<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This visit pr<\/span><b>ovides an opportunity <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for a coherent exposition of what the U.S. intends for the region.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Confusing signals<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the past, Trump has sent out inconsistent signals, which have been confusing for Japanese.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the campaign trail Trump <\/span><b>fingered the U.S. trade deficit with Japan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which stands at more than $68 billion as an example of American industrial weakness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trump suggested that Tokyo pick up a greater proportion of the bill for the U.S. military facilities it hosts. And he also pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, causing a loss of face to Mr. Abe who had expended considerable political capital in committing Japan to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Trump has reiterated strong support for the U.S.-Japan alliance and his harsh rhetoric on <\/span><b>Pyongyang\u2019s weapons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> testing is in consonance with Mr. Abe\u2019s own aggressive position.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Dealing with North Korea<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ironic challenge that has emerged for Mr. Abe is to rein in Mr. Trump\u2019s enthusiasm for standing up to <\/span><b>North Korea.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trump has engaged in a rhetorical duel with North Korea\u2019s leader, calling him \u201cRocket Man\u201d in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly and warning that the U.S. was ready to \u201ctotally destroy\u201d the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Multiple partnership<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan is acutely aware of its limitations when acting alone, and is actively seeking multiple partnerships.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tokyo is not only trying to revive the TPP, even without U.S. participation, but has also recently suggested a <\/span><b>quadrilateral top-level dialogue between Japan, the U.S., India and Australia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to promote <\/span><b>open trade and security cooperation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What makes India- Japan Bi-lateral ties strong?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Economic Relations:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Trade<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Financial Year 2015-16, India-Japan trade reached US$ 14.51 billion, showing a decrease of 6.47% from 2014-15<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s export to Japan for 2015-16 was US$ 4.66 billion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s Import from Japan for 2015-16 was US$ 9.85 billion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s primary exports to Japan have been petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish &amp; fish preparations, metalliferous ores &amp; scrap, clothing &amp; accessories, iron &amp; steel products, textile yarn, fabrics etc and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s primary imports from Japan are machinery, transport equipment, iron and steel, electronic goods, organic chemicals, machine tools, etc<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India-Japan Comprehensive Trade agreement was signed in 2011<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The agreement covered goods and services, free movement of visitors and workers, investments, intellectual property rights, and custom procedures. It also sought to abolish tariffs on over 94% of goods India and Japan were trading in, over a period of 10 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Investment<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan is the fourth largest foreign investor in India<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The presence of Japanese companies in India has also been increasing steadily<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During Indian Prime Minister\u2019s visit to Japan in 2015, leaders of both the countries had agreed to the goal of doubling Japan\u2019s direct investment as well as number of Japanese companies working in India by 2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has set up a \u2018Japan Plus\u2019 office at the ministry of commerce and industry to serve one-stop window to resolve problems faced by Japanese companies in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India had announced \u201cvisa on arrival\u201d scheme for all Japanese travellers, including for business purposes, effective from March 1, 2016<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Infrastructure<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Delhi Metro Project has been efficiently executed with Japanese assistance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In June 2017, Japan\u2019s Kawasaki Heavy Industries had entered into an agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals for technical collaboration on the manufacture of steel metro coaches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JICA has been working with state governments on urbanization and smart city projects<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JICA has taken up a \u2018Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Study\u2019 for Andhra Pradesh Capital Region.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has also approved a loan of Rs. 4,200 crore for Amravati Metro Project<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>India- Japan Civil Nuclear Deal<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The agreement came into effect from July 2017.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The agreement has allowed US and French nuclear firms who have alliances with Japanese companies to supply nuclear reactors, fuel and technology to India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Defence Cooperation<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defence has emerged as an area of partnership between India and Japan<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 2017 India-Japan annual defence ministerial dialogue in Tokyo, India and Japan exchanged views and ideas with the aim to further strengthen defence and security cooperation under the framework of the \u2018Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan and India have agreed to collaborate closely in defence production, including on dual-use technologies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have also agreed to commence technical discussions for research collaboration in the areas of Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Robotics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recent Malabar Naval Exercise among US, India and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces has also strengthened the military ties.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b> Way ahead<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The introduction of bullet trains is expected to boost India- Japan bilateral ties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Mumbai \u2013Ahmadabad Bullet train deal has geostrategic significance for both India and Japan as both the countries share common concerns about China.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, defence has also emerged as a major area of cooperation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Japanese pivot:\u00a0 Context Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become staunch supporter of Donald Trump deepening their ties with Trump\u2019s first official trip to Asia from November 5 \u2013 17 to Japan. Significance of the visit It will underscore the close alliance between Japan and the U.S. at a time of shifting geopolitical sands&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-japanese-pivot\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Japanese pivot:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704717025},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}