Sourya Kharb
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Marking for the first time the growing significance of the New Delhi-Tokyo ties, a joint statement between Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Friday highlighted a trilateral dialogue between Japan, India and the US for "peace and economic prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and around the globe". The trilateral, which Japan also holds with Australia and South Korea, has become one of the most successful joint initiatives by the three countries.
It also signifies that the India-Japan relationship occupies prime mind space both in Tokyo and New Delhi. The US-Japan statement comes days after foreign secretary Sujatha Singh travelled to Tokyo for a high-level official dialogue on security and strategic issues. The US and India have been going through a rough patch in recent months as has the US-Japan relationship. But at the same time, India-Japan ties have been on a very different trajectory. The BJP's prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi shares with Manmohan Singh an interest in Japan and has let it be known that he might visit Japan as one of his first overseas destinations.
The next round of the US-India-Japan trilateral is scheduled for early June. In the run-up to the meeting, India is organising a meeting of stakeholders from all three countries to start infrastructure projects in the northeast states that could be continued through Myanmar, Thailand and beyond. The idea is to build east-west connectivity to counter China's north-south links in south-east Asia.
India is also closer to buying the US-2 amphibian rescue aircraft from Japan, an agreement formalised during Abe's visit here in January. The second round of negotiations was held between Amitabh Kant, the new DIPP secretary and his Japanese counterparts. When the deal comes through, it would be the first time Japan would be exporting military hardware after World War II.
The Japanese decision to sell the US-2 to India comes even as it set out an amended three principles for export of defence equipment to other countries. Basically, this expands the ambit of Japanese defence exports to countries designated friends and allies and will help Japanese defence industry.
It also signifies that the India-Japan relationship occupies prime mind space both in Tokyo and New Delhi. The US-Japan statement comes days after foreign secretary Sujatha Singh travelled to Tokyo for a high-level official dialogue on security and strategic issues. The US and India have been going through a rough patch in recent months as has the US-Japan relationship. But at the same time, India-Japan ties have been on a very different trajectory. The BJP's prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi shares with Manmohan Singh an interest in Japan and has let it be known that he might visit Japan as one of his first overseas destinations.
The next round of the US-India-Japan trilateral is scheduled for early June. In the run-up to the meeting, India is organising a meeting of stakeholders from all three countries to start infrastructure projects in the northeast states that could be continued through Myanmar, Thailand and beyond. The idea is to build east-west connectivity to counter China's north-south links in south-east Asia.
India is also closer to buying the US-2 amphibian rescue aircraft from Japan, an agreement formalised during Abe's visit here in January. The second round of negotiations was held between Amitabh Kant, the new DIPP secretary and his Japanese counterparts. When the deal comes through, it would be the first time Japan would be exporting military hardware after World War II.
The Japanese decision to sell the US-2 to India comes even as it set out an amended three principles for export of defence equipment to other countries. Basically, this expands the ambit of Japanese defence exports to countries designated friends and allies and will help Japanese defence industry.
