India is a growing economy with great potential: Japan Foreign Minister Taro Kono to WION

When Taro Kono was asked about the impressions he has formed about India, he said, "India has a huge potential and it is a growing economy with a young population. So it's good to have a very friendly relationship with India, and Japan and India could be a natural ally in terms of our economy and defense and security"

On how now, both India and Japan share a strategic, global relationship, Kono said, "India is the largest democracy on this planet and India and Japan share many common values, democracy, human rights, rule of law and we are strategically, I think aligned very nicely"

"India is the largest recipient of our ODA (Official Development Assistance) and Japan is now the third largest investor in India. More than fifteen hundred Japanese companies are now very active in the Indian market and India as well and I think keeping free and open sea lines of communication is vital to the economic prosperity in not only Asia but for Africa, the Middle East, all the way across the Pacific to the western coast of the United States and we share common values of this free and open Indo-Pacific vision and India is the most important partner to making it happen,"  Kono said.

"We need to work on connectivity for economic prosperity and also we need to work together to keep the law enforcement capacity of the countries along the coast and we can work together on this issue as well. So this relationship needs to be stronger and I think it is natural to say this is the most important partnership to make a 'free and open Indo-Pacific' happen," he added

While Japan is the 3rd largest investor, the total trade is about 16 billion dollars.

"We are now working on RCEP. We hope to conclude this negotiation by the end of 2019. Also, we concluded TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) negotiations and India is welcome to join TPP. So now there is a lot of protectionism rising all over the world. But I think we can work to keep free and open trade and I think that is beneficial for India and Japan as well," the Japan Foreign Minister said 

"When Prime Minister Modi visited Japan last year, we agreed to start two plus two ministerial meeting process and we are holding a dialogue on cyber, dialogue on space. Meanwhile, the Japanese Maritime Self-defence Force are participating officially in Malabar exercise and Indian Army-Air Force is working with Japanese self-defense forces in joint exercises. So there is a lot of cooperation between our Self-defence Force and Indian armed forces," Kono said.

"At the same time there are a lot of things we can do to get the defense industry going and so there is a lot of potential and creating very strong relationship between Japan and India or plus the US or even Australia will bring stability in this Indo-Pacific region and I think stability is a cornerstone for the economic prosperity of this region," he told WION

"The trilateral relationship (between USA, India, and Japan) will be getting stronger and we can coordinate defense and security policy, we can coordinate economic policy as well and plus we are now having DG (Director General) level meeting including Australia," said Japan Foreign Minister 

The Foreign Minister on issues with China said, "Well for last 40 years, the Japanese government, as well as Japanese private sector, helped the Chinese economy to grow. I think a stable growth of the Chinese economy according to the existing international order will give a great opportunity for many other economies to prosper. But unfortunately, there is some disagreement with China such as protecting intellectual property right or industrial subsidies or sort of - forced technology transfer."

"So, we need to get China to play the game according to the international rule; but if China comes back to stable growth and they play the same game, it will provide a lot of opportunity for the region. At the same time, they are violating our territorial water in the East China Sea and their action in the South China Sea needs to be corrected. So on those fundamental issues, Japan has no intention to concede. I think we need to get China engaged in the International framework and try to get China to play according to the international rules. So, it is important to cooperate among US, Japan, India or another country and get China to play within their existing liberal international order, that will create a lot of opportunities," he added 

"Well, I think the alliance between Japan and the United States is the cornerstone for security policy of Japan and President Trump and his administration's commitment to Asia or the Asia Pacific is still very strong in terms of security and defence policy. It is unfortunate that Washington left TPP and we are still hoping for the US to come back to TPP. But I think in general, in terms of security; the US is very committed to the region. So, we are not really worried about it and for example the issue of North Korea; I think the trilateral commitment among US, Japan and South Korea is very solid and we are working on North Korea to change the policy. So, I think the Trump administration; well there are a lot of issues but when it comes to the Asia Pacific or when it comes to the relationship between Japan and the United States, I think it's very stable and their commitment is real," the minister told WION