Japan Considers Greater India Air-Force Links

[Vikrant]

Japan and India moved to expand air-force ties before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits New Delhi this month, bolstering relations two months after China declared an air-defense identification zone in a disputed area.

Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and his Indian counterpart A.K. Antony discussed starting talks between air-force officials while reaffirming plans to conduct regular naval exercises, according to an Indian government statement today. Asia’s second- and third-largest economies may also conduct pilot exchanges, it said.

The ministers “decided to strengthen India-Japan defense consultation and cooperation, including those related to maritime security,” the government said. Indian naval vessels will visit Japan to conduct exercises this year, it said.

Japan and India, which both have territorial disputes with China, are increasing ties as tensions escalate in Northeast Asia. China and South Korea rejected Abe’s call for talks today after his visit to a war shrine last week drew an angry response from both countries.

Abe’s trip to India will be the first by a Japanese leader since 2011, when the countries agreed to boost security ties in the face of China’s growing assertiveness. Last month, Japanese Emperor Akihito visited India for the first time in five decades, and the nations’ navies conducted bilateral training exercises for the second time in as many years.

The countries also increased financial ties, with India approving an increase in the bilateral currency swap arrangement between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Japan to $50 billion from $15 billion.

China in November unnerved its neighbors by declaring an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea that overlaps with Japan’s zone and includes uninhabited islands claimed by both nations.

An April military standoff between China and India marked the most serious incident between the nuclear-armed neighbors in a quarter of a century on the Himalayan border where the world’s most-populous countries fought a brief war in 1962.

Japan Considers Greater India Air-Force Links Amid China Tension - Bloomberg

 

[TheOldSchool]

I just want to say you're a very interesting poster Vikrant. You always have great stories about Asia that don't ever reach the mainstream where I'm at.

Regarding your OP, this sounds like a great move for India and Japan. They are 2 eastern powers that could be pivotal to that hemisphere's future yet they don't seem to get anywhere near the media attention that they should. I think it's very smart for them to be coming together over the worry of what China may become in the future.

Something that could be a big boost to their relationship would be U.S. support. We should remember there are countries in the East besides just Israel that we could benefit from supporting.

 

[Vikrant]

It took me a while to realize that the foreign policy of the US is not necessarily driven by the national interest of the US. The foreign policy of the US is mainly directed by the lobbies that operate in DC. They have two major lobbies in the DC: one is Jewish lobby and another one is Wahhabi lobby. China has smoothly figured out a way to piggyback on Jewish lobby which helps it get away with quite a bit. Now, the center of the attention for the both lobbies is the Middle East. That is why we see so much focus on Syria, Iran, Israel, Iraq, etc. There is almost no attention given to China which is pretty much harassing Japan - a US ally on a daily basis. It makes you wonder what the heck is going on.

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India’s gesture of inviting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be the chief guest at the country’s 65th Republic Day celebrations later this month is “an epic signal” of the strengthening of India-Japan bilateral ties, a key Japanese politician said Monday.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, who heads the New Komeito Party, the junior coalition partner of Abe’s ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, made the comment when asked about the Japanese Prime Minister’s proposed visit to India for the 26 January ceremony.
“This is for the first time that a Japanese Prime Minister is going to be the chief guest (at the Republic Day celebrations),” Yamaguchi said, speaking through an Indian interpreter in New Delhi after talks with India’s vice-president Hamid Ansari and foreign minister Salman Khurshid.
“This ( the invitation) speaks of the importance India and Japan are giving to their relationship,” Yamaguchi said, noting that Japan and India have been working closely together and forging partnerships in many areas. “I believe it will send a great epic signal... for the strengthening of the partnership,” Yamaguchi added.
Invitations to the Republic Day celebrations in the capital are extended “after a lot of thought”, said C.U. Bhaskar, an analyst with the South Asia Monitor think-tank. “It is not a casual choice.”
Japan-India ties have warmed considerably since the India-friendly Abe took office after the 16 December 2012 polls in Japan. After taking over, Abe’s cabinet gave its go-ahead for a visit to India by Japanese emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
The invite from India had been pending for a decade and the visit took place in November.
The warming of India-Japan relations also come against the backdrop of a spike in tensions between Japan and Asian giant China over a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Both China and Japan claim the island, which the Japanese call the Senkaku and the Chinese call the Daioyu. In November, China tried to establish its authority over the islands by demanding that all aircraft flying in the region obey its rules or face “emergency defensive measures”.
Last month, the Japanese cabinet approved the country’s first-ever national-security strategy that calls for a more proactive approach to security despite Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution.
The national security strategy was also discussed at a meeting between visiting Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera and his Indian host A.K. Antony in New Delhi on Monday.
“Minister Onodera briefed on Japan’s National Security Strategy and the National Defence Programme Guidelines, which were adopted in December 2013. The Defence Minister of India A.K. Antony appreciated the detailed briefing,” the Indian government said in a statement, adding that the two sides “shared views on issues relating to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region”.
On India-Japan civil nuclear cooperation, Yamaguchi, whose party is seen as favouring the elimination of nuclear weapons, said discussions between the two countries needed to be accelarated, but he sought a “flexible approach” on issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, signing of the comprehensive test ban treaty and the safe use of nuclear technology for civilian purposes.
Yamaguchi also met Amitabh Kant, the chief of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), the ambitious $90 billion infrastructure programme that aims to develop new industrial cities along a 1,483km stretch connecting Delhi and Mumbai and passing through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. During talks, Kant told the Japanese side that part of the DMIC project would take off by 2017, Yamaguchi said.
Imparting skills to India’s youth and balancing environmental concerns with development needs were the other issues discussed during the talks with Ansari and Khurshid, Yamaguchi said, adding that Japan was keen to play a role in India’s economic growth.

India?s Republic Day invite to Japan?s Shinzo Abe seen as ?epic signal? - Livemint

 

[Vikrant]

The Japanese government is seemingly bent on countering China’s military expansion and aggressiveness, as Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera formally shook hands with his Indian counterpart in forging stronger military ties with India, even as Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida sets off to Europe to do the same with France and Spain. These actions come amid increasing tensions in Tokyo and Beijing’s dispute over a string of uninhabited isles in the East China Sea, coupled with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s end-of-year visit to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine.

Japan and India have formally strengthened ties between their air forces, this happening before Abe visits New Delhi later this month. Onodera and his Indian counterpart, A.K. Antony, agreed on opening discussions between Japan and India’s air force officials while also committing to proceed with plans to conduct regular naval exercises. Japan and India, Asia’s second- and third-largest economies, also agreed on the possibility of pilot exchanges. “Both sides know that China stands between them and that they’d be smart to make sure they’re on the same page with each other now and in the future,” said Uday Bhaskar, an analyst with the New Delhi-based National Maritime Foundation. “They’re taking steps, small steps, but if there’s an inclusion of the air force now, then you’re seeing growth in this relationship.”

Japan and India both have territorial disputes with China, and this puts Beijing in an interesting position diplomatically. China and South Korea have both rejected Abe’s recent call for talks, surely an angry reaction to his Yasukuni visit. Abe’s visit to New Delhi will be the first by a Japanese leader since 2011, when the countries agreed to boost security ties in the face of China’s growing assertiveness. Just last month, Japan’s Emperor Akihito also visited India for the first time in five decades, and the nations’ navies conducted bilateral training exercises for the second time in as many years.

Japan boosts military ties with India, seeks to counter escalations by China - The Japan Daily Press

 

[SalaamAkir]

Very good, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines should join as well.

 

[Vikrant]

"The forces for peace in the world, and they include China, are growing," Mr Wang told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

China has a sense of humor. You have to give it that.

Japanese PM Abe pushes for greater India ties amid Sino-Japanese tensions - Australia Network News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)