In a strong rebuke to the Kan government, voters deprived the DPJ and its tiny ally of a majority less than a year after the party swept to power.
The sculpting of a strategic partnership and inking of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement show that South Korea is keen to engage India on matters where their mutual interests converge.
Tacit Chinese endorsement of the policies pursued by North Korea and Myanmar has emboldened them to persist with policies that are detrimental for peace and stability in the region.
Getting the economy back on track would be Kan’s top most priority. Kan views ties with the US as the core of Japan’s foreign policy, though he also greatly values the relationship with China.
The one country that has not condemned North Korea’s role in the sinking of the Cheonan is China, which has its own strategic and economic compulsions to back North Korea.
The Cheonan incident came at a very inopportune time for North Korea, irrespective of the fact whether Pyongyang had any hand in it or not.
Chairperson: V. P. Dutt
External Discussants: Amb. Rajiv Sikri & Amb. T.C.A. Rangachari
Internal Discussants: Brig. (Retd.) Rumel Dahiya and Dr. Shamshad Ahmed Khan
Notwithstanding revelations about the secret nuclear pact, the Japan-US alliance is likely to remain strong and the East Asian security order will continue to be determined by the American presence
With Hatoyama’s determination to wrest policymaking power from bureaucrats in full swing, Japan is likely to witness an intense battle between the political masters and the powerful bureaucrats for supremacy.