Syllabus :GS2/IR
In News
- Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met the Japanese Minister to discuss strengthening bilateral ties and key projects, including the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Shinkansen Bullet Train.
Historical
- India and Japan share a deep-rooted Special Strategic and Global Partnership, founded on spiritual, cultural, and civilizational ties.
- Historical connections include the Indian monk Bodhisena’s role in consecrating the Buddha statue at Japan’s Todaiji Temple in 752 AD .
- Prominent Indians linked to Japan include Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, JRD Tata, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, and Justice Radha Binod Pal.
- Symbolic gestures such as Prime Minister Nehru’s elephant donation to Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in 1949 reflect enduring friendship.
Defense Cooperation
- India-Japan Defense and Security partnership forms an integral pillar of bilateral ties.
- India-Japan defense exchanges have gained strength in recent years due to growing convergence on strategic matters and its significance is growing from the common outlook on issues of peace, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific Region.
- A Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (JDSC) between India and Japan was signed in 2008.
- JIMEX is a bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
Economic and Commercial relations
- India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEPA) Agreement came into effect from 1 August 2011.
- The Agreement covers not only trade in goods but also services, movement of natural persons, investments, intellectual property rights, custom procedures and other trade related issues.
- Japanʼs bilateral trade with India totaled US$ 22.85 billion during FY 2023-24.
- Exports from Japan to India during this period were US$ 17.69 billion and imports were US$ 5.15 billion.
- Today, India ranks 18th in Japanʼs total trade with 1.4% share while Japan ranks 17th in Indiaʼs total trade with 2.1% share.
- Indiaʼs primary exports to Japan are Organic Chemicals, Vehicles (Other than railways & trams), Nuclear Reactor, Aluminium and Articles thereof, Fish & other aquatic invertebrates.
- Indiaʼs primary imports from Japan are Nuclear Reactors, Copper and Articles thereof, Electrical Machinery and Equipment, Inorganic Chemicals and Iron and Steel.
Cooperation in other areas
- The Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience initiative in a Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in April 2021.
- India-Japan Act East Forum was established in December 2017 and it aims to provide a platform for India-Japan collaboration under the rubric of Indiaʼs “Act East Policy” and Japanʼs “Vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.
- It identifies specific projects for economic modernization of Indiaʼs North-East region such as those pertaining to connectivity, developmental infrastructure, industrial linkages as well as people-to-people contacts.
- Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed during the visit of PM Modi to Japan in November 2016.
Latest Developments
- Japan plans to give India two advanced E-10 Shinkansen trains.
- The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project is now slated for completion by December 2029, delayed from its original 2022 target.
- Both sides addressed supply chain challenges caused by China’s export restrictions on critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries.
Source :TH
Previous article
Five years of National Education Policy
Next article
Layoffs Across IT Services Industry
