{"id":3594,"date":"2026-08-11T22:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-japan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:32:13","slug":"india-and-japan","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"India and Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>II-B India and the World<\/a>\u203a<\/span>India and Japan<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
Paper I \u00b7 India and the World<\/div>\n

India and Japan<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper II-B \u00b7 5<\/b> \u2014 India and the Global Centres of Power : USA, EU, Japan, China and Russia.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
<\/p>\n

Nature of the relationship<\/h3>\n

Civilizational base.<\/span> Rooted in Buddhism and spiritual affinity from the monk Bodhisena<\/span>, who consecrated the Lord Buddha statue at the Todaiji Temple<\/span> in Nara in 752 AD<\/span>. The Japan-India Association<\/span> (1903) is the oldest international friendship body in Japan. Japan entered the political consciousness of Indian nationalists through the 1904\u201305 Russo-Japanese War<\/span>; associated Indians include Vivekananda, Tagore, JRD Tata, Subhas Chandra Bose and Judge Radhabinod Pal<\/span>. In 1949 Nehru gifted an elephant to Tokyo\u2019s Ueno Zoo.<\/p>\n

\n

Given the depth of Indian ideas in Japanese arts and language, \u201cwithout Indian influence, Japanese culture would not be what it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

H. Nakamura<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Distinctive character.<\/span> Unlike ties with China, there are no competing national interests, no simmering rivalry and no historical baggage \u2014 the two have never been adversaries<\/span>. Under the US Indo-Pacific framework India is to be the net provider of security<\/span>; for India, Japan can be the region\u2019s stability provider. Close ties take India out of the South Asia box and past South-East Asia, where the Look East policy stopped.<\/p>\n

\n

Asia is shaped by the outlook of the US, the power of China, the weight of Russia, the collectivism of ASEAN, the volatility of West Asia and the rise of India \u2014 one imponderable, Japan\u2019s future posture, could change the calculus entirely.<\/p>\n

S. Jaishankar<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How the partnership is framed.<\/span> Shinzo Abe<\/span> called India Japan\u2019s natural ally<\/span> and, addressing Parliament, invoked Dara Shikoh\u2019s \u201cconfluence of the two seas.\u201d Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa<\/span> notes bipartisan Japanese support whoever governs India; Kanwal Sibal<\/span> calls the present the \u201ccherry blossom time\u201d; Harsh V. Pant<\/span> holds it the best the relationship has ever been, Abe having been first to envision a \u201cbroader Asia\u201d joining the two oceans.<\/p>\n

The four phases \u2014 what actually drove each<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Phase (Waltz level)<\/th>\nCore developments<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
I \u00b7 Pre-Independence (systemic + perceptual)<\/td>\nRusso-Japanese War made Japan a symbol of Asian resurgence; Congress cooled after the 1937 invasion of China and the Bose association. At the Tokyo Tribunal, Judge Radhabinod Pal<\/span> \u2014 the sole Indian \u2014 held all twenty-five Class-A accused not guilty; Nobusuke Kishi<\/span>, a Class-A suspect never charged, became PM in 1957 (Abe\u2019s grandfather).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
II \u00b7 Nehru Years 1951\u201366 (individual level)<\/td>\nIndia declined the San Francisco Peace Treaty<\/span> (1951) \u2014 it excluded China and the USSR and left Japan short of full sovereignty \u2014 and signed a separate Peace Treaty (June 1952)<\/span> between \u2018equals\u2019, waiving reparations, with mutual MFN. India favoured a strong Japan east of China to divert Beijing. Iron-ore supply and yen loans (1958) followed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
III \u00b7 Estrangement 1966\u201391 (structural + domestic)<\/td>\nRival Asian-security visions: Nehru\u2019s \u2018Monroe Doctrine for Asia\u2019 vs Japan\u2019s Yoshida Doctrine<\/span> (economics first, US alliance). India saw Japan as \u2018America\u2019s surrogate in Asia\u2019 (Limaye<\/span>). Japan neutral in 1962 and 1965; the 1971 Friendship Treaty<\/span> with the USSR put them in opposite camps; the 1974 test upset Tokyo. Maruti-Suzuki was the one 1980s bright spot.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IV \u00b7 Re-engagement post-1991 (structural + domestic)<\/td>\nSoviet collapse, the BoP crisis and reforms, the rise of China, sea-lane security and the nuclear question. The Bank of Japan helped in 1991; Look East opened East Asia. Japan named India (with China and Vietnam) \u2018Asia\u2019s new economic frontier\u2019 and de-hyphenated India from Pakistan<\/span>; since 2003 India is the top recipient of Japanese ODA<\/span>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The Modi years \u2014 the upgradation ladder<\/h3>\n

From partnership to \u2018special\u2019 partnership.<\/span> Global Partnership<\/span> (2000 \u00b7 Vajpayee & Mori) \u2192 Strategic & Global<\/span> (2006 \u00b7 Abe) \u2192 Special, Strategic & Global<\/span> (2014 \u00b7 Tokyo Declaration).<\/p>\n

    \n
  • High-level cadence: Modi to Japan in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023; Abe to India 2014, 2015, 2017; Kishida 2022, 2023.<\/li>\n
  • Japan\u2019s technology and finance meet India\u2019s infrastructure needs; defence advanced through the 2014 Memorandum of Cooperation, the 2015 framework agreements and relaxed Japanese defence-export rules; the 2016 civil nuclear agreement opened the energy sector.<\/li>\n
  • Shinzo Abe<\/span> saw India as the way to widen Japan\u2019s security options beyond a US-centric frame; Modi sees Japan as central to Act East. Japan\u2019s FOIP<\/span> names India an \u201cindispensable partner.\u201d 2022 marked the 70th anniversary of ties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Areas of cooperation<\/h3>\n

    Economic & development<\/span><\/p>\n