‘There is a feeling that Japan needs to do much more in this area’ | photo credit: AFP
The visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to India in March 2023, during which he held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on global and bilateral issues, focused on cooperation between the G-7 and G-20. Japan and India hold their respective Chairs). In addition, Mr. Kishida also unveiled “Japan’s New Plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) and exchanged views on deepening the “Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership” .
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Japan’s FOIP clearly shows that Japan wants to reinforce the idea that it has been the main champion of the FOIP concept, and Mr. Kishida’s speech underlined that the current geopolitical situation with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war Looking at the scenario, given the growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Indian Line of Actual Control and the Taiwan Strait, the concept needs a fresh push and momentum. FOIP’s new plan stresses the need to maintain a rules-based order and respect each other’s territorial sovereignty, Mr. Kishida warned that “at a time when the international community is at a historic turning point, I would Let us clarify once again the concept of FOIP to propose a guiding perspective to be shared by the international community, which, if left unchecked, can lead to division and conflict.
Challenges before the Indo-Pacific
Japan’s new policy focuses on a number of challenges such as the Ukraine war, Indo-Pacific such as food security and cyberspace, besides issues such as ensuring freedom of the seas and connectivity among others.
Another challenge highlighted is the lack of a unified position on “what the international order should be” – the differing positions of countries on the Russia–Ukraine war have brought this issue to the fore. But there is a firm belief that FOIP will be able to work with and embrace diverse voices and create an environment of cooperation and collaboration rather than division and confrontation. To achieve this environment of cooperation, ‘Rule-making through dialogue’ should be encouraged. The fact is that under the FOIP, Japan is supposed to work with other like-minded countries in the region, with India being billed as an ‘indispensable’ partner.
foundation
There is a realization that Japan needs to do more in this area, and for this the ‘four pillars of cooperation’ have been outlined under the new FOIP: principles of peace and rules of prosperity; Addressing challenges in an Indo-Pacific manner; multilevel connectivity; and expanding efforts to protect and secure access to the “air” from the “sea”.
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In the first pillar, it is pointed out that weaker countries usually suffer the most when there is an erosion of the rule of law. Therefore, Japan seeks to engage in economic development programs such as promoting the implementation of the G-20 principles for “quality infrastructure investment”.
Under the second pillar, Mr. Kishida talked about “expanding cooperation for FOIP by including realistic and practical projects in a wide range of areas such as climate change, food security, global health and cyber security”. Japan has been working bilaterally on connectivity projects with several countries in the Indo-Pacific region for a long time.
Under the third pillar, the three regions identified for launching more such projects are South East Asia, South Asia and South Pacific/Pacific Island countries. Japan has made a fresh commitment of $100 million to the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund; It will promote the Bay of Bengal-Northeast India industrial value chain concept in collaboration with India and Bangladesh, and the new Palau International Airport Terminal project (an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean) supported by Japan has also begun.
Under the fourth pillar, Japan will help strengthen the capabilities of maritime law enforcement agencies in other countries. Towards these objectives, Japan will implement the “strategic use of Official Development Assistance (ODA)”, revise the Development Cooperation Charter and set guidelines for ODA for the next 10 years, and establish an “offer-type” cooperation and Introducing a new framework. For “private capital raising-type” grant aid. Mr. Kishida also announced that Japan would “mobilize” a total of more than $75 billion in public and private funds in the Indo-Pacific region by 2030 in infrastructure development.
role of tokyo
The primary goal of Mr. Kishida’s visit was to reinforce Japan’s central role in the emerging geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region. In the past, he has said that “Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow”, reflecting Japan’s concern about growing Chinese belligerence in the region. Mr. Kishida’s emphasis on the need to maintain a peaceful and rules-based international order, and his policies and efforts under the new FOIP to help stabilize the regional order amid the Ukraine war and countries’ differing positions on this conflict advancing the system. To show that Japan is preparing itself for any unforeseen threat to its own as well as regional security. Japan investing deeply in Indo-Pacific stability and prosperity is indeed good news for India and the wider region.
Harsh V. Pant is Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, and Professor at King’s College London. Premsha Saha is a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation