Perspectives Paper No. 2,318, October 29, 2024
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The current strengthening of relations between India and Japan demonstrates a change in both countries’ foreign and security policy. Each side sees the other as an important element in balancing China and creating an alliance that could replace the US, should it ultimately decide to retreat from Asia. New Delhi and Tokyo have expanded cooperation in security and economic sectors, participated in joint military exercises, and engaged actively in the Quad forum, which is aimed at countering the Chinese threat and maintaining regional stability. Japan’s defense policy changes and the growing US presence in the Indo-Pacific support this partnership, reinforcing their joint commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Since taking office as prime minister of India in 2014, Narendra Modi has worked hard to strengthen New Delhi’s security relations with Tokyo. Modi wants to deepen India’s ties with the countries of East Asia and the Pacific and sees Japan as a key strategic partner.
Under Modi’s leadership, India and Japan have strengthened their strategic and global partnership according to three key principles: personal diplomacy, shared values and strategic convergence. These principles serve as a basis for deepening cooperation in areas such as security, technology, investments and infrastructure, which contribute to regional stability and the expansion of both countries’ economies. Trade between the two states increases on a yearly basis. In 2023-24, trade between them amounted to US$22.85 billion.
Security relations between Japan and India began to tighten at the beginning of the 21st century after years of relatively limited ties. Their signing of a Declaration of Security Partnership in 2008 was an important milestone in their rapprochement. Changes of policy in both India and Japan led them to upgrade their security dialogue and participate in joint military exercises.
The security cooperation between Japan and India coincided with Tokyo’s regional policy change to upgrade bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other states in Asia and, later, to increase Japan’s defense budget to cope with both the military and economic threats posed by China and concerns about the future of the US presence in Asia.
Prime Minister Modi has placed a special emphasis on expanding joint military exercises with Japan. The JIMEX exercise between the Japanese and Indian navies is held regularly. India also joined the Malabar exercise, which involved the US, Japan and Australia. Japan’s military cooperation with Australia serves its interests as it sees Australia as another important ally in the effort to balance China.
The Indian and Japanese prime ministers share a commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, with an emphasis on freedom of navigation, peaceful conflict resolution and interstate cooperation. Japan and other Asian states are seriously concerned about the threat the Chinese navy poses to the region’s sea lanes, a threat made manifest in recent months when Chinese vessels clashed with Vietnamese and Philippine ships.
In this context, the Quad international forum, which includes India, Japan, the US and Australia, has become a central platform for security cooperation between India and Japan. It was late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who pushed for the revival of the forum, which occurred in 2017. The forum focuses on maintaining a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region and promoting the common interests of its member states.
Tokyo and India view the Quad forum as a strategic tool for cooperation with each other and with the other member states, and for strengthening their joint commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation and stability in the region. Over the last decade, the American presence in the region has grown stronger, which has led to closer relations between the US, India and Japan.
During his term in office, President Joe Biden held a few meetings/summits with US allies in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen the alliance and demonstrate US commitment to the region. The August 2023 Camp David summit between Biden, Japanese PM Kishida Fumio and South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol included an understanding of trilateral cooperation between the states to deal with regional threats. At a summit in April 2024 between Biden and Fumio, they announced a “new era of strategic cooperation between the US and Japan” in which Japan is expected to play a more prominent role in regional security, led by the US. This role may include closer cooperation with India, especially in view of the security challenges posed by China in the Indo-Pacific. The intensifying American presence helps to strengthen the strategic ties between India and Japan and ensure stability and security in the region.
The deepening of the strategic partnership between India and Japan, alongside the growing US presence in the region, reflects a mutual desire to strengthen regional stability and security against strategic and economic challenges. Japan’s changes in defense policy, including increasing its defense budget and upgrading multilateral cooperation, have contributed to its tightening of ties with India. These developments reinforce both countries’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region and addressing regional threats, particularly from China.
The Indo-Pacific region holds great potential for new alliances and strategic and economic cooperation with Israel. Policy makers in Israel should accordingly pay more attention to the Indo-Pacific arena, and tensions between states in that region should be taken into account when pursuing Israeli initiatives there.
Dr. Lauren Dagan Amos is a member of the Deborah Forum, a lecturer, and a researcher in the Department of Political Science and the Security Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University. She specializes in Indian foreign policy.
Dr. Alon Levkowitz is a senior lecturer in Asian Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.