Japan, India can gain much from stronger ties

[Guest guest]

By Shigeko Mori: Japan, India can gain much from stronger ties

06/18/2005

 

The Asahi Shimbun

 

 

India, like China, is witnessing remarkable economic growth and

attracting world-wide attention.

 

World leaders have been visiting New Delhi one after the other to

meet with top Indian officials.

 

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is no exception. He visited in late

April as part of a tour of South Asia and Europe.

 

The two leaders discussed their countries' aspirations to become

permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, ways to expand

business ties and other matters of common interest.

 

Japan has been slow to advance its business interests into India. So

Koizumi's decision to go to India was a welcome move. U.S. companies

are leading the way in investing in India, especially in the fields

of finance and information technology.

 

Meantime, South Korean electronics makers are cashing in on rising

demand for home appliances among India's rapidly growing middle

class.

 

Yet, Japan is the biggest provider of economic aid to India. During

his visit, Koizumi announced that Japan would increase its aid to

India, which should be supported.

 

In addition, what could have been stressed further on that trip was

a recognition that India is important for Japan not just as an aid

recipient, but as a political and economic partner. I would have

liked him to have emphasized the importance of building an equal-

partner relationship.

 

Soon after his visit, an English-language newspaper wrote about his

fond memory during his trip to Delhi many years ago. Koizumi threw

away some worn-out underwear at a hotel where he was staying. Hotel

employees, thinking he wanted it back, laundered it and return it to

Koizumi. Freshly pressed underwear was returned to him on his way to

the airport.

 

Koizumi was quoted how impressed and touched he was with the hotel

employees who were so conscientious and thrift-minded. By relating

such stories, however, the prime minister may have risked to invite

misunderstanding instead of expressing his immense appreciation. To

some eyes, it merely displayed a ``show of arrogance by a rich

Japanese toward people in a poor country.'' We should be concerned

with the way we project ourselves to people in a different society.

 

There are many areas in which Japan and India can complement each

other. For example, Japan produces high-quality computers that can

benefit from India's advanced information technology and software.

 

Japan has a labor shortage and high wages, whereas India has surplus

labor and pays lower wages. While Japan has little in terms of

natural resources, India has an abundance of iron ore and other

resources. Japan is a producer of synthetic fibers and India is a

major producer of cotton and silk.

 

Since the end of World War II, India has stood by Japan as a trusted

friend. When Japan lost the war, it was Indian Judge Radhabinod Pal

who presented the minority view in defense of Japan and asserted its

innocence in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in

Tokyo.

 

Furthermore, India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1951

did not sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty on the grounds that ``it

violates the national prestige of Japan,'' which he held in high

regard. He signed a separate peace treaty the following year that

renounced all claims to war reparations against Japan by India.

 

Indians increasingly are taking up the study of the Japanese

language. In Pune, a city three hours' drive from Mumbai, formerly

Bombay, schools including the University of Pune offer Japanese-

language classes. The president of the local Indo-Japanese

association studied electric engineering on a scholarship from the

Japanese government, and is now working to forge closer ties between

the two countries.

 

His Japanese is so fluent, in fact, that when I first spoke to him

on the phone, I wasn't sure whether I was speaking with a native

speaker of Japanese.

 

In 1991, when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was finance

minister, India found it was unable to repay international debts and

faced a financial crisis.

 

Japan extended assistance ahead of the International Monetary Fund.

Singh, now the prime minister, later tearfully expressed his deep

appreciation for Japan's kindness. I was moved by his humble words.

 

India has attached greater importance to ties with the United States

and Europe than to its Asian neighbors. But now the idea of

reversing that trend and promoting exchanges with Asian countries is

spreading there, not only within the government but also among the

public.

 

Japan should revamp its Indian strategy, advance bilateral dialogue

and strengthen its relationship with India.

 

* * *

 

The author is a Nihon University professor specializing in

international cooperation studies. She was a former resident

representative of the Asian Development Bank's India Office in New

Delhi.(IHT/Asahi: June 18,2005)

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200506180140.html