KG Suresh: India and Japan have an equally long past and future

India and Japan have shared fraternal ties since time immemorial. Exchanges between the two countries date back to the 6th century. Indian Buddhist priests, who migrated to Japan through Korea, laid the first foundations of people-to-people relationships between the two countries. Ties were then renewed in the Meiji Era when Shou-rindramohan Tagore of Kol-kata sent three musical instruments to Emperor Mutsuhito in 1877. In the days before independence, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who visited Japan several times, pioneered efforts to bring the two nations together.

While patriotic Indians can never forget the assistance extended by the Japanese forces to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Japanese nationalists continue to adore Justice Radha Binod Pal, who was the Indian member appointed to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East’s trials of Japanese war crimes committed during the World War II. Among all the judges of the tribunal, he was the only one who submitted a judgment which insisted that all defendants were not guilty.

In 1966, the Emperor of Japan conferred upon Pal the First Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. Pal is revered by Japanese nationalists and a monument dedicated to him stands on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism. Similarly, for every Indian visiting Japan, Renkoji temple in Tokyo is a place of pilgrimage where the urn believed to be containing Netaji’s ashes is preserved.

Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on April 28, 1952. Ever since, the two countries have enjoyed cordial relations. In the post World War II period, India’s iron ore helped Japan in its recovery from devastation and since 1986, Japan has become India’s largest aid donor, and remains so. PM Yoshiro Mori’s visit to India in August 2000 during the tenure of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee saw both leaders announce the India Japan Global Partnership and this strengthened the mutual relationship.

Since then, annual meetings between prime ministers have led to the establishment of the “Strategic and Global Partnership between Japan and India” as well as the further strengthening of the bilateral relationship. During Prime Minister Hatoyama’s visit to India in December 2009, Japan and India signed the Joint Statement “New Stage of Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership”.

The recent India-Japan Global Partnership Summit (IJGPS) 2011 in Tokyo from September 5-7 was a major milestone for the two countries. The summit, chaired by two former Japanese Prime Ministers, Mori and Yukio Hatoyama, and co-chaired by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was organised by India Centre Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit organisation working as a catalyst in nation building processes of India through its various socio-economic initiatives.

Addressing about 4,000 delegates from both countries, including over 2,000 businessmen, Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, described India as a promising investment destination.

“More than 700 Japanese companies have already been doing business in India and even more companies look to India as a promising investment destination,” he said, adding Japan would like to contribute to further development of India, which is already showing an incredible rise.

Talking about bilateral relations, Noda said, “Next year marks the 60th anniversary of our bilateral diplomatic relations and I look forward to the further strengthening of our bilateral ties in the coming years.” Stating that both India and Japan share universal values like democracy and rule of law, Noda said, “We are determined to see Japan and India — the two largest democracies in Asia further deepen their co-operation based on the strategic global partnership that the two countries announced in 2006.”

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, BJP leaders J P Nadda and Smriti Irani, Delhi Minister Ramkant Goswami, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & MD, Reliance Industries, Rajesh Shah, MD, Mukand Steel, Amitabh Kant, CEO, DMIC Development Corporation, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Founder of Isha Foundation, etc, were among the prominent Indian leaders from different walks of life present at the summit.

However, many participants lamented that Indian government leaders were conspicuous by their absence at a summit that was addressed and attended by serving and former Japanese prime ministers. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma was scheduled to speak at the inaugural event but gave it a miss at the last moment.

While several participants from both sides felt that India and Japan should join hands to counter the Chinese attempts to dominate Asia, others felt all the three countries should come together to represent a resurgent Asia and to counter the West.

Asserting that the India-Japan Global Partnership was not an alliance against any country, Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairman, India Center Foundation and Founder & Director General IJGPS said, “It is our firm belief that this robust and resourceful partnership will bring peace, stability and prosperity to Asia and the rest of the world.”

— The author is a Delhi-based senior journalist and Director of
the Global Foundation for Civilisational Harmony (India)