India |
Japan |
Throughout history, India–Japan relations have always been strong. For centuries, India and Japan have engaged in cultural exchanges, primarily as a result of Buddhism which spread indirectly from India to China and then to Japan. During the Second World War, the Japanese Imperial Army employed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army in battles against British forces. India is the largest recipient of Japanese ODA.[1] India–Japan have stood by each other at critical moments in their history.[1]
Political relations between the two nations have remained warm since India's independence. Japanese companies, such as Sony, Toyota, and Honda, have manufacturing facilities in India, and with the growth of the Indian economy, India is a big market for Japanese firms. Japanese firms were, in fact, some of the first firms to invest in India. The most prominent Japanese company to have an investment in India is automobiles giant Suzuki, which was in partnership with Indian automobiles company Maruti Suzuki, the largest car manufacturer in India.
In December 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan culminated in the signing of the "Joint Statement Towards Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership". Japan has funded many infrastructure projects in India, most notably the Delhi Metro subway system. Indian applicants were welcomed in 2006 to the JET Programme, starting with just one slot available in 2006 and 41 in 2007. Also, in the year 2007, the Japanese Self Defense Forces took part in a naval exercise in the Indian Ocean, known as Malabar 2007, which also involved the naval forces of India, Australia, Singapore and the United States. The year 2007 was also declared "India-Japan Friendship Year."[1]
Contents |
Cultural exchanges between India and Japan began early in the 6th century with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from India. The Indian monk Bodhisena arrived in Japan in 736 to spread Buddhism and performed eye-opening of the Great Buddha built in Tōdai-ji,[1] and would remain in Japan until his death in 760. Buddhism and the intrinsically-linked Indian culture had a great impact on Japanese culture, still felt today, and resulted in a natural sense of amicability between the two nations.[2]
As a result of the link of Buddhism between India and Japan, monks and scholars often embarked on voyages between the two nations. Buddhist monks from India had been visiting Japan from the 8th century.[3] Ancient records from the now-destroyed library at Nalanda University in India describe scholars and pupils who attended the school from Japan.[4] One of the most famous Japanese travellers to the Indian subcontinent was Tenjiku Tokubei (1612–1692), named after Tenjiku ("Heavenly Abode"), the Japanese name for India.
The cultural exchanges between the two countries created many parallels in their folklore. Modern popular culture based upon this folklore, such as works of fantasy fiction in manga and anime, sometimes bear references to common deities (deva), demons (asura) and philosophical concepts. The Indian goddess Saraswati for example, is known as Benzaiten in Japan. Brahma, known as 'Bonten', and Yama, known as 'Enma', are also part of the traditional Japanese Buddhist pantheon. In addition to the common Buddhist influence on the two socieities, Shintoism, being an animist religion, is similar to the animist strands of Hinduism, in contrast to the religions present in the rest of the world, which are monotheistic. Sanskrit, a classical language used in Buddhism and Hinduism, is still used by some ancient chinese priests who immigrated to Japan, and the Siddhaṃ script is still written to this day, despite having passed out of usage in India. It is also thought that the distinctive torii gateways at temples in Japan, may be related to the torana gateways used in Indian temples.
In the 16th century, Japan established political contact with the Portuguese colonies in India. The local Japanese people initially assumed that the Portuguese were from India and that Christianity was a new "Indian faith". These mistaken assumptions were due to the Indian city of Goa being a central base for the Portuguese East India Company and also due to a significant portion of the crew on Portuguese ships being Indian Christians.[5] Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, Indian lascar seamen frequently visited Japan as crew members aboard Portuguese ships, and later aboard British ships in the 18th and 19th centuries.[6]
During the anti-Christian persecutions in 1596, many Japanese Christians fled to the Portuguese colony of Goa in India. By the early 17th century, there was a community of Japanese traders in Goa in addition to Japanese slaves brought or captured by Portuguese ships from Japan.[7]
Relations between the two nations have continued since then, but direct political exchange began only in the Meiji era (1868–1912), when Japan embarked on the process of modernization.[8] Japan-India Association was founded in 1903.[9] Further cultural exchange occurred during the mid-late 20th century through Asian cinema, with Indian cinema and Japanese cinema both experiencing a "golden age" during the 1950s and 1960s. Indian films by Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt and Rajinikanth were influential in Japan, while Japanese films by Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu and Takashi Shimizu have likewise been influential in India.
Japan’s emergence as a power in the early 20th century was positively viewed in India and symbolized what was seen as the beginning of an Asian resurgence. In India, there was great admiration for Japan’s post-war economic reconstruction and subsequent rapid growth.[10] Correspondences between distinguished individuals from both nations had a noticeable increase at the time; historical documents show a friendship between Japanese thinker Okakura Tenshin and Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore, Okakura Tenshin and Bengali poet Priyamvada Banerjee.[11] As part of the British Empire, many Indians resented the British rule. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was ended on August 17, 1923. As a result, during the two World Wars, the INA adopted the "an enemy of our enemy is our friend" attitude, legacy that is still controversial today given the war crimes committed by Imperial Japan and its allies.
Many Indian independence movement activists escaped from British rule and stayed in Japan. The leader of the Indian Independence Movement, Rash Behari Bose created India–Japan relations. Future prime minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, pan-Asianist Mitsuru Tōyama and other Japanese supported the Indian Independence movement. A. M. Nair, a student from India, became an Independence Movement activist. Nair supported Netaji Subash Chandra Bose during the war and Justice Radha Binod Pal after the war.
In 1899 Tokyo Imperial University set up a chair in Sanskrit and Pali, with a further chair in Comparative religion being set up in 1903. In this environment, a number of Indian students came to Japan in the early twentieth century, founding the Oriental Youngmen's Association in 1900. Their anti-British political activity caused consternation to the Indian Government, following a report in the London Spectator.
India and Japan were closely linked during the Indian independence movement. The alliance arose from talks between Japanese Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi, Japanese War Minister Hideki Tojo, and Subash Chandra Bose, who led the Azad Hind, a militant movement which was dedicated to freeing India from British rule, and armed forces, the Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army (INA). The INA was composed mainly of former prisoners of war from the British Indian Army who had been captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and Indian expatriates in South East Asia, who had decided to join the Japanese war effort. Bose was eager for the INA to participate in any invasion of India, and persuaded several Japanese that a victory such as Mutaguchi anticipated would lead to the collapse of British rule in India. The idea that their western boundary would be controlled by a more friendly government was attractive.[12] It would also have been consistent with the idea, put about by Japanese propaganda, that Japanese expansion into Asia was part of an effort to support Asian government of Asia and against western colonialism.[12][13]
The Japanese Government extensively supported the Indian National Army and the Indian Independence League during India's fight for independence. India and Japan conclused loan agreements for Indian independence war.[14][15] Whether the Japanese sought to invade India is uncertain; in any event, the idea of having a more friendly government (i.e. Indian, rather than British) to their West was appealing to the Japanese government.[16] Japanese forces fought alongside the Indian National Army in many battles, most notably at the U Go Offensive at Manipur. The offensive culminated in Battles of Imphal and Kohima where the Japanese and their allies were first held and then pushed back. India and Japan participated Greater East Asia Conference with other Asian countries in 1943, they declared working for the abolition of racial discrimination. In view of common Japanese discrimination against the Chinese and Koreans, however, it is uncertain how seriously the Japanese meant this. Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands which were under the British rule, were returned to India by Japan. In 1944, Subash Chandra Bose sent Indian youth cadets to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy to train as future pilots.[17]
At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, one of the dissenting judgments in favour of Japan was made by Indian Justice Radha Binod Pal. The principled judgement of Justice Radha Binod Pal is remembered even today in Japan.[1] This became a symbol of the perceived closeness of India and Japan.
An oft cited story also narrates how, in 1949, India sent the Tokyo Zoo two elephants to cheer the spirits of the defeated Japanese empire.[18]
Many in Japan also remember India’s refusal to attend the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 for the reason India concerned for the limitation on Japanese sovereignty and national independence.[10][19] After Japanese restoration of sovereignty, Japan and India signed a separate peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28 April, 1952, in which India waived all reparation claims against Japan.[10] This treaty was one of the first treaties Japan signed after World War II.[2] Diplomatic, trade, economic, and technical relations between India and Japan were well established. India's iron ore helped Japan's recovery from World War II devastation, and following Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's visit to India in 1957, Japan started providing yen loans to India in 1958, as the first yen loan aid extended by Japanese government.[2] Relations between the two nations were constrained, however, by Cold War politics. Japan, as a result of World War II reconstruction, was a U.S. ally, while India pursued a non-aligned foreign policy. Since the 1980s, however, efforts were made to strengthen bilateral ties. India’s ‘Look East’ policy posited Japan as a key partner.[10] Since 1986, Japan has become India's largest aid donor, and remains so.[2]
Relations between the two nations reached a brief low in 1998 as a result of Pokhran-II, an Indian nuclear weapons test that year. Japan imposed sanctions on India following the test, which included the suspension of all political exchanges and the cutting off of economic assistance. These sanctions were lifted three years later. Relations improved exponentially following this period, as bilateral relations between the two nations improved once again.[20]
In August 2000, Japanese Prime Minister Mori visited India. At this meeting, Japan and India agreed to establish "Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st Century." Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee visited Japan in December, 2001, where both Prime Ministers issued "Japan-India Joint Declaration", consisting of high-level dialogue, economic cooperation, and military and anti-terrorism cooperation. In April, 2005, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi visited India and signed Joint Statement "Japan-India Partnership in the New Asian Era: Strategic Orientation of Japan-India Global Partnership" with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[2]
Japan is currently India’s third largest source of foreign direct investment; Japanese companies have made cumulative investments of around $2.6 billion in India since 1991. The 2007 annual survey conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation ranked India as the most promising overseas investment destination for Japanese companies over the long term. In recent years, Japan has assisted India in infrastructure development projects such as the Delhi Metro Rail Project. Both sides are also discussing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project and Dedicated Freight Corridor Projects on the Mumbai-Delhi and the Delhi-Howrah routes.[10]
In October 2008, Japan signed an agreement with India under which it would provide the latter a low-interest loan worth US$4.5 billion to construct a railway project between Delhi and Mumbai. This is the single largest overseas project being financed by Japan and reflected growing economic partnership between the two.[21] India is also one of the only three countries in the world with whom Japan has security pact, the other two being Australia and the United States.[22] As of March 2006, Japan was the third largest investor in India with an estimated total investment of US$2.12 billion.[23]
Kenichi Yoshida, a director of Softbridge Solutions Japan, stated in late 2009 that Indian engineers were becoming the backbone of Japan's IT industry and that "it [] important for Japanese industry to work together with India."[24][25] In November 2009, the Japanese steel manufacturer JFE Steel agreed to partner with JSW Steel, India's third-largest steel producer, to construct a joint steel plant in West Bengal.[26]
During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan in 2010, both countries agreed to foster increased business exchanges, people-to-people contact and signed a memorandum of understanding to simplify visa procedures for each other's citizens. Under the memorandum, any Japanese coming to India for business or work will be straightway granted a three-year visa and similar procedures will be followed by Japan.[27] Other highlights of this visit includes abolition of customs duties on 94 per cent of trade between the two nations over the next decade. As per the agreement, tariffs will be removed on almost 90 per cent of Japan's exports to India and 97 per cent of India's exports to Japan [28]
Trade between the two nations has also steadily been growing:[2]
| Year | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade from India to Japan | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Trade from Japan to India | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 6.1 |
(Billions of USD)
On October 26, 2010, Japan and India concluded negotiations on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.[29]
India and Japan also have close military ties. They have shared interests in maintaining the security of sea-lanes in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, and in cooperation for fighting international crime, terrorism, piracy and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The two nations have frequently held joint military exercises and cooperate on technology.[10] India and Japan concluded a security pact on October 22, 2008.[30][31]
Japan and India maintain strong cultural connections. The two nations announced 2007 as Japan-India Friendship Year, and held cultural events in both India and Japan.[32]
Osamu Tezuka, kamisama of manga wrote biographical manga Buddha from 1972 to 1983. Recently, Japan has also supported the reconstruction of Nalanda University, an ancient Buddhist center of learning and has agreed to provide financial assistance, and recently approached the Indian government with a proposal.[33]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||