Indo-Japan Defence Tie Up - Rising Prospects
14 Jun, 2000 · 365
Wg Cdr NK Pant says the ministerial dialogue must percolate down to the the military to military level in the form of personnel interaction
It may not be purely coincidental that the Indian defence minister George Fernandes was in
Japan
in the first week of June to represent
India
in funeral ceremonies of Late Japanese Minister Keizo Obuchi. A couple of months back, he had visited
Tokyo
charting out a new road map in Indo- Japanese defence co-operation. The official parleys with Japanese officials, have made fruitful operational interaction amongst the armed forces especially the naval units of the two countries a distinct possibility in the coming years.
US
military presence in
East Asia
and rapid rise of
China
as a major industrial and military power seems to be producing a reappraisal of a subservient security strategy that
Japan
has followed since its defeat in the Second World War. The American security umbrella, in fact, enabled
Tokyo
to maintain a low military profile and concentrate on becoming the world’s industrial and economic giant. Now the US, after having folded up its naval and air bases in the Philippines and considering a further reduction in the number of servicemen deployed elsewhere in the region, wants Japan as an ally to assume greater military responsibilities and simultaneously checkmate the Chinese dragon from expanding its intimidating claws in the Western Pacific region.
US
origin. Though Tokyo now spends a mere one per cent of the nation’s approximately $5 trillion GDP on the misnomer called self defence forces, the massive Japanese industrial output makes its defence budget the third largest in the world. Comparatively,
India
’s annual defence budget estimated to be 2.7 of its GDP happens to be one fifth of
Tokyo
’s annual defence spending. As
Japan
slowly and cautiously embarks on the path of correcting the imbalance between its military and economic power, it is on the look out for new like minded partners to fill up the security void in the region. In this context, the Japanese seem to have taken the cue from their American allies who themselves are exploring the possibilities of improving strategic ties with
India
. Hence the recent dialogue between the Indian defence minister and the Japanese officials should be seen as an exercise to understand each other on bilateral security issues in the post cold war world where trade and commerce have assumed dominating position over petty territorial gains.
India
’s geographically dominating location on the
Indian Ocean
has finally propelled the Japanese to transform their diplomatic indifference to
India
of earlier days into meaningful security engagement.
Japan
’s economic and industrial buoyancy to a great extent depends on the smooth flow of Gulf oil into the island nation. The oil traffic passes through the sea lanes where the Indian naval power holds the sway. The Indian navy’s effectiveness in checkmating the pirates on the volatile high seas thereby keeping the arteries of oceanic trade fully functional for the smooth two way flow of heavy commercial traffic has inspired confidence amongst the Japanese. But the policy makers in
Tokyo
appear to be treading cautiously and looking for an alibi to set aside their diplomatic annoyance of Pokhran nuclear tests and
India
’s refusal to sign the CTBT on a dotted line. They are definitely charting out new paths to forge better understanding with
India
in the field of defence and security. Incidentally, both the countries happen to be members of the ASEAN Regional Forum which additionally provides an appropriate platform for periodical interaction amongst the fellow nations on the regional and mutual security related issues.
India
and
Japan
have rightly decided to exchange views on a regular basis which can later be institutionalised. India’s emerging blue water naval power can be fully relied upon in the vital task of defending sea lanes of the Indian Ocean that keep the Japanese economy supplied with food, raw materials and fossil fuel besides ensuring the smooth passage for the exports of the finished goods. In the highly hostile security environment of
South Asia
where
Pakistan
sponsored terrorism is raising its ugly head and
India
specific Beijing-Islamabad nexus is getting stronger day by day,
New Delhi
must go all the way to welcome and reciprocate the Japanese initiative. Moreover, endeavour needs to be made to end compartmentalisation of security interests and economic interests which need to be amalgamated. The beneficial fall out for
India
from the bilateral co-operation in the field of defence may be waiting in the wings, as
Japan
has advanced military relevant research and development programme as well as the dual use technology. In addition, Japanese burgeoning civil industry generates many innovations with potential military applications. The ministerial dialogue must percolate down to the military to military level in the form of regular personnel interaction , visits by warships, joint exercises and training programmes in order to provide the practical shape to the politico-diplomatic intent.
The waning
Consequently, Japanese self defence forces have been steadily adding teeth in the form of state-of-the-art latest war gadgetry mostly of the
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