Journalism of Courage
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Japan on Sunday for his third trip to that country in four-and-a-half years, India and Japan are likely to begin negotiations for a defence pact on logistics support, similar to the ones signed with the US and France.
The logistics pact is key to India’s growing military cooperation with like-minded countries, especially as they cooperate on the Indo-Pacific amid an increasingly proactive China.
This assumes significance at a time when Japan is trying to improve its relations with China, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on his first bilateral visit to China. Abe met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ahead of a Friday summit with China’s top leader, President Xi Jinping. He is scheduled to return to Japan on Saturday to host Modi.
India is not unduly worried about Tokyo’s outreach to Beijing, as Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that it will not “impact India-Japan bilateral relationship” and India welcomes improvement of ties between Japan and China.
Defence and security ties is one of the key elements of the India-Japan relationship, and the two countries share concerns on the Indo-Pacific region. “It goes without saying that Indo-Pacific will be a major topic for discussion between both the leaders,” Gokhale said.
There will be discussions on how the two countries can collaborate in the context of the Indo-Pacific in Asia and Africa on capacity-building and on infrastructure projects in a trilateral manner. “In other words it will be India, Japan plus one,” the foreign secretary said.
Modi will be hosted by Abe for a private dinner at his holiday home in picturesque Yamanashi prefecture on October 28. After that, both leaders will travel to Tokyo by train. “This is a very special gesture PM Abe is making,” Gokhale said. Last year, Modi had hosted Abe in Ahmedabad, where there was a road show in his honour.
On Sunday afternoon, Abe will host an informal lunch for Modi at a hotel with a view of Mount Fuji. On Monday, Modi and Abe will hold wide-ranging talks with focus on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concerns.
