E-Paper
Following the Tokyo drift
The experience of Maruti-Suzuki and the Delhi Metro are two very visible examples of what the Japanese connection means.
The significance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Tokyo visit is already apparent. We need to ignore quibbles over whether Japan could have been more forthcoming on supporting the Indian position on civil nuclear cooperation. It is sufficient to say that their position can only evolve for the better as far as India is concerned. All the other aspects of the visit, including greater economic and political cooperation appear to have been successful. Catching the world’s second largest economy in its long awaited upswing is an important goal for India for many reasons, foremost among them the fact that Tokyo is willing to come forward more than half-way in offering a hand of friendship.
To an extent, the Japanese desire to come closer to India, steered by leaders like former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his successor Shinzo Abe, can be seen as a small hedge on its massive economic commitments in China. But small or not, India could do with all the Japanese investment, assistance and technology it can lay its hands on. The experience of Maruti-Suzuki and the Delhi Metro are two very visible examples of what the Japanese connection means. The Prime Minister has explicitly spelt out India’s needs for both capital and technology in Tokyo, which is perhaps the best place in the world to do so because Japan has an abundance of both, as well as an inclination to help India. This has been evident in recent years when India has emerged as one of the largest recipients of its official development assistance (ODA).
In economic terms India may be a small block yet, but there is every indication that in political terms we are only seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It is no coincidence that the two countries were part of the Group of Four — along with Brazil and Germany — that staked a collective claim to permanent seats in the UN Security Council. Neither is it chance that China has opposed the Japanese candidacy and has sought to break this club of important nations, who also happen to be democracies. But more is needed than just investment and diplomatic cooperation for India and Japan to come closer.
More Japanese and Indians must take interest in each other’s societies. Here the situation is abysmal. Where nearly 5 million Japanese and Chinese visit each other’s country, the number for India is just 150,000. While 80,000 Chinese study in Japan, the number of Indians is just about 400. Proximity may be an explanation, but only a partial one as the relationship between India and the US would reveal. More needs to be done by both governments to encourage the movement of people, who in the final analysis, form the real glue in cementing State-to-State relationships.
