With Abe taking a nationalistic stance and confronting China over the Senkakus, India-Japan cooperation could suffer since it does not seem to be in India’s interest to confront China.
With China increasingly wary of the developments taking place on its Pacific seaboard, it would perhaps be in a much better frame of mind to listen to Indian concerns.
Noda’s visit to India is a demonstration of Japan’s long-term commitment to scale up India–Japan bilateral ties to a higher trajectory.
There certainly exists some logic behind India, Japan and the US working together, and that too in a region that lacks solid security architecture.
A new tide is visible in Japan for expanding Indo-Japan relations based on mutual complementarities.
The significance of the India-RoK nuclear deal lies in the fact that it allows India to tap into ROK’s nuclear expertise and it takes the pressure off the India-Japan nuclear deal.
The strategic environment of the world, particularly in Asia, is in a state of dramatic flux. The overwhelming economic and military presence of the United States in Asia is on the wane.
The fruits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan can be seen in the conclusion of negotiations on the long-pending CEPA, start of the negotiations on a civil nuclear pact and sharing of views on Afghanistan, UN reform, and on engaging China as a responsible stakeholder for peace and stability in Asia.
The DPJ has relaxed its earlier rigid position and is no longer demanding that India join the NPT as a pre-condition for the nuclear pact.
The urge to sign a nuclear agreement with India is driven by Japan’s entrepreneurial interest and by the new emphasis on technology exports as a part of economic growth strategy.