The India-Japan security relationship: An enduring security partnership?

Asian Security

Volumn 6, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 95-120

  Brewster, David ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79956252505     PISSN: 14799855     EISSN: 15552764     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14799851003756550     Document Type: Article

References (129)

1. "Joint Statement on the Advancement of the Strategic and Global Partnership between Japan and India, " Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, October 22, 2008. Available at http://www.mofa.go.jp
2. Tony Smith, America's Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 350.
3. See Peter J. Katzenstein and Rudra Sil, "A Case for Analytical Eclecticism, " in J. J. Suh, Peter J. Katzenstein, and Allen Carlson, eds., Rethinking Security in East Asia: Identity, Power, and Efficiency (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), pp. 1-33.
4. Peter J. Katzenstein, Rethinking Japanese Security: Internal and External Dimensions (London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 3-4.
5. C. Raja Mohan, Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
6. For example, the "balance of threat" theory, now broadly accepted by neo-realists, is inevitably a balance of threats as perceived by decision-makers. See Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliances (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987).
7. For the use of strategic perceptions to analyze the Japan-China security dilemma, see, for example, Thomas J. Christensen, "China, the US-Japan Alliance, and the Security Dilemma in East Asia, " International Security Vol. 23, No. 4 (Spring 1999), pp. 49-80.
8. See Robert Jervis, Perceptions and Misperceptions in International Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976).
9. For a useful discussion of the evolving relationship, see Purnendra Jain, "From Condemnation to Strategic Partnership: Japan's Changing View of India (1998-2007), " Institute of South Asian Studies, ISAS Working Paper No. 41, March 10, 2008.
10. See generally, Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998).
11. See Satu P. Limaye, "Tokyo's Dynamic Diplomacy: Japan and the Subcontinent's Nuclear Tests, " Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 22, No. 2 (August 2000), pp. 322-339.
12. K. Venugopal, "Japan's Guarded, Positive Response on Nuclear Issue, " The Hindu, December 16, 2006.
13. Abe, in his 2006 political manifesto Utsukushii kuni e: Jishin to hokori no moteru Nihon e [Toward a Beautiful Country: A Confident and Proud Japan] (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2006) includes a lengthy discussion of how Japan should strengthen ties with India, stating: "It will not be a surprise if in another decade, Japan-India relations overtake Japan-US and Japan-China ties. "
14. The 123 agreement effectively recognized India as a de facto nuclear weapons state and allowed India access to civil nuclear and other sophisticated technology from the United States. Implementation of the agreement was delayed until October 2008, primarily due to significant domestic opposition in India. For a discussion of the 123 agreement and India-US security relations generally, see K. Alan Krondstadt, "India-US Relations, " Congressional Research Service Report, RL33529, August 12, 2008.
15. Sudha Ramachandran, "What Are Friends for...?" Asia Times, August 25, 2007. Available at http://www.atimes.com
16. For more detailed accounts of these developments in 2007, see Purnendra Jain, "Westward Ho! Japan Eyes India Strategically, " Japanese Studies Vol. 28, No. 1 (May 2008), pp. 15-30.
17. and Madhuchanda Gosh, "India and Japan's Growing Synergy: From a Political to a Strategic Focus, " Asian Survey Vol. 48, No. 2 (March/ April 2008), pp. 282-302.
18. Sun Cheng, "A Comparative Analysis of Abe's and Fukuda's Asia Diplomacy, " China International Studies No. 10 (Spring 2008), pp. 58-72.
19. D. S. Rajan, "China: Media Fears over India Becoming Part of Western Alliance, " Chennai Center for China Studies Paper No. 46, August 29, 2007.
20. However, purely military-to-military contacts among Japan, India, and the United States in a multilateral context were thought not to be so. Unnamed Japanese government advisor quoted in Richard J. Samuels, Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007), p. 198.
21. Siddharth Varadarajan, "India, Japan Say New Security Ties Not Directed Against China, " The Hindu, October 23, 2008.
22. D. S. Rajan, "Beijing: Suspicions on Japan-India Security Declaration Targeting China, " Chennai Center for China Studies Paper No. 221, November 2, 2008.
23. A point acknowledged by Indian Foreign Minister Shiv Shankar Menon. Varadarajan, "India, Japan Say New Security Ties Not Directed Against China. "
24. See G. V. C. Naidu, "Indo-Japan Relations: Emerging Contours of Strategic Partnership, " paper presented at the 10th IDSA-JIIA Bilateral Seminar, New Delhi, December 15-16, 2008.
25. Peter J. Brown, "China Looks Beyond India-Japan Space Alliance to the US Connection, " Asia-Pacific Journal Vol. 48-1-08, November 24, 2008.
26. Australia has been traditionally leery of security involvement in Northeast Asia; this has now changed as demonstrated by the Australia-Japan and Australia-South Korea security declarations.
27. Siddharth Varadarajan, "India in Dilemma over North Korean Satellite Launch, " The Hindu, April 6, 2009.
28. and "India Urges N. Korea to Return to Talks, " Indian Express, June 24, 2009. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea thanked India for its stance on the missile tests.
29. Samuels, Securing Japan.
30. Katzenstein, Rethinking Japanese Security, pp. 3-4.
31. Peter J. Katzenstein and Nobuo Okawara, "Japan's Security Policy: Political, Economic, and Military Dimensions, " in Peter J. Katzenstein, ed., Rethinking Japanese Security, pp. 59-75.
32. Japan's views on the Chinese threat have been described as "something approaching panic. " Aurelia George Mulgan, "Breaking the Mould: Japan's Subtle Shift from Exclusive Bilateralism to Modest Minilateralism, " Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 30 No. 1 (2008), p. 60.
33. Xinhua, "A Glance at Features of Hillary Clinton's Asian Tour, " February 22, 2009.
34. See Samuels, Securing Japan, p. 193.
35. Heigo Sato, "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity, " in Bridging Strategic Asia: The Rise of India in East Asia and Implications for the US-Japan Alliance (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2008). Available at http://www.csis.org.
36. See "The United States, Japan, and India: Toward New Trilateral Cooperation, " Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 16, 2007. Available at http://www.csis.org.
37. The US-Japan Alliance: Getting Asia Right through 2020 (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2007), coauthored by former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, asserted the importance of cooperation by Japan with Australia and India founded on "common values. " Despite its unofficial status, the report was considered in Japan as intended as a policy guide for the then-current and next US administrations.
38. Dennis Shanahan, "Pacific Allies to Enlist India, " The Australian, March 15, 2007.
39. See "US-Japan-India Strategic Dialogue October 17-19 in Delhi, India: Key Recommendations, " Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 6, 2008. Available at http://www.csis.org.
40. See Sven Saaler and J. Victor Koschmann, eds., Pan-Asianism in Modern Japanese History (New York: Routledge, 2007).
41. See, for example, S. Javed Maswood, "Japanese Foreign Policy and Regionalism, " in S. Javed Maswood, ed., Japan and East Asian Regionalism (London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 6-25.
42. In celebrating Japan's sponsorship of the Indian National Army, Abe conveniently forgot that in early 1942 Nehru and the great majority of the Congress Party leadership had firmly resolved to assist the British in resisting Japanese imperialism. Nehru threatened "guerrilla warfare" and "a scorched earth policy" should the Japanese ever try to invade India. See P. A. Narasimha Murthy, India and Japan: Dimensions of their Relations, Historical Political (New Delhi: ABC, 1986), p. 162.
43. The Japanese defendants in the Tokyo trials almost included Abe's grandfather, Kishi. He had been armaments minister in Japan's wartime cabinet but was released from prison by the Americans in 1948 in somewhat obscure circumstances.
44. Kenneth B. Pyle, "Abe Shinzo and Japan's Change of Course, " NBR Analysis Vol. 17, No. 4 (October 2006).
45. and Kenneth B. Pyle, Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose (New York: Public Affairs, 2007).
46. Miya Tanaka, "No Big Shift Seen in Foreign Policy, " Japan Times, September 1, 2009.
47. and Paul J. Scalise and Devin T. Stewart, "Think Again: Japan's Revolutionary Election, " Foreign Policy, October 1, 2009.
48. See Leif-Eric Easley, Tetsuo Kotani, and Aki Mori, "Electing a New Japanese Security Policy? Explaining Foreign Policy Visions within the Democratic Party of Japan, " Asia Policy, No. 9 (January 2010), pp. x-xx.
49. The Japanese and Indian Coast Guards have held annual joint search and rescue and antipiracy exercises since 2000 and signed a Memorandum on Cooperation in 2007. The Japanese Coast Guard is administered separately from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and is not subject to the same constitutional or political limitations as the Self-Defense Forces.
50. Such as cooperation demonstrated between India and Japan during the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
51. See Ernest B. Haas, "The Balance of Power: Prescription, Concept, or Propaganda, " World Politics Vol. 5, No. 4 (1953), pp. 442-477.
52. Former foreign minister Kakizawa Koji, quoted in Paul R. Daniels, "Beyond 'Better than Ever': Japanese Independence and the Future of US-Japan Relations, " Institute for International Policy Studies, IIPS Policy Paper 308E, July 2004, p. 10.
53. This has also been called the "dehierachisation" of Japan's security relationship with the United States. Takashi Inoguchi, "Japan as a Global Ordinary Power: Its Current Phase, " Japanese Studies Vol. 28, No. 1 (May 2008), pp. 3-13.
54. National Institute of Defense Studies, Asian Strategic Review 2005, p. 36.
55. See also Samuels, Securing Japan, p. 201.
56. See, for example, Takenori Horimoto, "The World as India Sees It, " Gaiko Forum Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall 2006), pp. 3-10.
57. Daniels, "Beyond 'Better than Ever,'" p. 10.
58. Including the Japanese resupply support to coalition vessels engaged in the Afghanistan campaign and a Japanese contribution to Somalian antipiracy operations (although to protect Japanese ships only).
59. Kazuya Natsukawa, Opening Address, Indo-Japan Dialogue on Ocean Security, Tokyo, October 12, 2006.
60. National Institute of Defense Studies, East Asian Strategic Review 2008, p. 219.
61. According to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Pace, the United States was "very comfortable with the fact that India has offered its assistance" in providing maritime security in the Malacca Strait. "Indian Navy Awaits Regional Nod for Patrolling Malacca Straits, " India Defence, June 7, 2006. Available at http://www.india-defence.com/
62. Author interviews with Japanese security analysts, June 2009.
63. Author interviews with Japanese security analysts, June 2009.
64. "India, Japan Ink Action Plan on Security Cooperation, " NetIndian News Network, December 29, 2009.
65. See the joint statement of Japanese and Indian leaders during Indian prime minister Singh's Tokyo visit in December 2006: "Joint Statement toward Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership, " December 15, 2006.
66. The security declaration was apparently pressed on Aso by LDP's Kishi faction (on which Aso depended) and seen as a "low-cost" diplomatic achievement.
67. Varadarajan, "India, Japan Say New Security Ties Not Directed against China. "
68. Varun Sahni, "India and Asian Security Architecture, " Current History Vol. 105, No. 690 (April 2006), pp. 163-167.
69. See Ashley J. Tellis, "China and India in Asia, " in Francine Frankel and Harry Harding, eds., The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), pp. 134-178.
70. C. Raja Mohan, "The Asian Balance of Power, " Seminar No. 487.
71. and C. Raja Mohan, "India, China, and Asian Security, " The Hindu, January 27, 2003.
72. See Stephen J. Blank, Natural Allies? Regional Security in Asia and Prospects for Indo-American Cooperation (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 2005).
73. See David Scott, "India's 'Grand Strategy' for the Indian Ocean: Mahanian Visions, " Asia-Pacific Review Vol. 13, No. 2 (2006), pp. 97-129.
74. Chidanand Rajghatta, "Singhing Bush's Praise, " Times of India, April 13, 2001.
75. Manmohan Singh, "PM's Address at the Combined Commander's Conference, " October 24, 2004. Available at http://pmindia.nic/
76. Peter Padfield, Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World (New York: Overlook, 2000), p. 1.
77. See, for example, T. V. Paul, James J. Wirtz, and Michel Fortmann, Balance of Power: Theory and Practice in the Twenty-First Century (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004).
78. See Mohan, Crossing the Rubicon.
79. Purnendra Jain, "From Condemnation to Strategic Partnership: Japan's Changing View of India (1998-2007), " Institute of South Asian Studies, Working Paper No. 41, March 10, 2008.
80. and Brahma Chellaney and Horimoto Takenori, "Indo kara mita Nihon, Ajia" [Japan-India Links Critical for Asia-Pacific Security], Gaiko Forum Vol. 7, No. 2 (2007), pp. 30-34.
81. Ashley J. Tellis, "The Changing Political-Military Environment: South Asia, " in Zalmay Khalilzad, David T. Orletsky, Jonathan D. Pollack, Kevin L. Pollpeter, Angel Rabasa, David Shlapak, et al., eds., The United States and Asia: Towards a New US Strategy and Force Posture (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2001), p. 214.
82. Naidu, "Indo-Japan Relations. "
83. Naidu, "Indo-Japan Relations. "
84. Chellaney and Takenori, "Indo kara mita Nihon, Ajia. "
85. As unlikely as such a vision may seem, it is not necessarily new from an Indian perspective. In 1971, in the wake of the Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty, Indian commentators also speculated about the development of an India-Soviet-Japan axis against China. Press Trust of India, "Reaction to Indo-Soviet Treaty-Japan's Isolation Heightened, " The Patriot, August 19, 1971.
86. Subhash Kapila, "Japan-India 'Strategic Dialogue' A Misnomer, " South Asia Analysis Group, Paper No. 2187, March 29, 2007.
87. See, for example, Rajesh Rajagopalan and Varun Sahni, "India and the Great Powers: Strategic Imperatives, Normative Necessities, " South Asian Survey Vol. 15, No. 5 (2008), pp. 5-32.
88. S. D. Muni and C. Raja Mohan, "Emerging Asia: India's Options, " International Studies Vol. 41, No. 3 (2004), pp. 313-333.
89. C. Raja Mohan, "Japan and India: The Making of a New Alliance?" RSIS Commentaries, August 27, 2007.
90. See generally, Mohan Malik, "The East Asia Summit, " Australian Journal of International Affairs Vol. 60, No. 2 (June 2006), pp. 207-211.
91. See Barry Buzan and Ole Waever, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Society (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
92. See generally, Milan Hauner, India in Axis Strategy: Germany, Japan, and Indian Nationalists in the Second World War (Stuttgart, Germany: Klett-Cotta, 1981).
93. and Joyce C. Lebra, ed., Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in World War II: Selected Readings and Documents (London: Oxford University Press, 1975).
94. Scott, "India's 'Grand Strategy' for the Indian Ocean. "
95. K. V. Kesavan, "The Indo-Japanese Partnership: The Security Factor, " Observer Researcher Foundation Issue Brief No. 19, May 2009.
96. Gurpreet S. Khurana, "Security of Sea Lines: Prospects for India-Japan Cooperation, " Strategic Analysis Vol. 31, No. 1 (January-February, 2007).
97. Nayan Chanda, "After the Bomb: India is Forging Ties with Japan and Vietnam as It Seeks to Establish Itself as a Player in Regional Security, " Far Eastern Economic Review, April 13, 2000.
98. See, for example, Bharat Karnad, Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security: The Realist Foundations of Strategy (Delhi: Macmillan India, 2005).
99. See generally, J. Nandakumar and A. Vinod Kumar, "India-Japan Relations: Are There Prospects for Civil Nuclear Cooperation?" Strategic Analysis Vol. 31, No. 6 (November 2007), pp. 973-984.
100. Nandakumar and Vinod Kumar, "India-Japan Relations. "
101. See Limaye, "Tokyo's Dynamic Diplomacy, " p. 329.
102. "Worrisome NSG agreement, " Japan Times, September 14, 2008.
103. Author interview with senior Japanese government advisor, June 2009.
104. "Japan to Postpone Nuclear-Pact Talks with India, " Nikkei Report, October 20, 2008.
105. Indrani Bagchi, "Japan Refuses to Commit on N-Pact, " Times of India, October 23, 2008.
106. Yoshiro Hachiro and Keiichiro Asao, "Statement Following the Approval of a Nuclear Agreement Proposed by the US which Exempts India from Certain Export Restrictions, " Democratic Party of Japan, September 11, 2008. Available at http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/news/080918/04.html.
107. "India Reiterates Voluntary Moratorium on N-Testing, " Thaindian News, February 6, 2010. Available at http://www.thaindian.com.
108. Author interview with senior Japanese government advisor, June 2009.
109. See generally, Bruce Riedel, "Israel & India: New Allies, " Brookings Institute, March 21, 2008. Available at http://www.brookings.edu.
110. C. Raja Mohan, "Pranab's Nudge Could Bring Japan Defense Tech to India, " Indian Express, May 25, 2006.
111. "Nuclear Deal Unlikely as Japan Sounds CTBT Alert, " Thaindian News, December 28, 2009. Available at http://www.thaindian.com.
112. It is argued that the prohibition on arms exports forms a key part of the Japanese "security identity. " Andrew Oros, Normalizing Japan: Politics, Identity, and the Evolution of Security Practice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008).
113. See, for example, Yukari Kubota, "Japan's New Strategy as an Arms Exporter: Loosening the Three Principles on Arms Exports, " RIPS Policy Perspectives No. 7 (November 2008).
114. "It's Time to Relax Rules on Arms Export, R & D, " Daily Yomiuri, June 10, 2009.
115. G. V. C. Naidu, "Ballistic Missile Defense: Perspectives on India-Japan Cooperation, " Strategic Analysis Vol. 31, No. 1 (January/February, 2007), pp. 155-177.
116. Evan S. Medeiros, Keith Crane, Eric Heginbotham, Norman D. Levin, Julia F. Lowell, Angella Rabasa, and Somi Seong, "Pacific Currents: The Responses of US Allies and Security Partners in East Asia to China's Rise" (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2008).
117. Among the extensive literature on the relationship between trade and alliances, see Edward D. Mansfield, Power, Trade, & War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994).
118. Joanne Gowa, Allies, Adversaries, and International Trade (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994).
119. and Michael P. Gerace, Military Power, Conflict, and Trade (London: Frank Cass, 2004).
120. Hideko Esho, "Japanese Investment in South Asia: The Case of India, " in Purnendra C. Jain, ed., Distant Asian Neighbors: Japan and South Asia (New Delhi: Sterling, 1996), p. 68.
121. James Clad, S. Kamaluddin, Manik de Silva, and Kedar Man Singh, "Japan-South Asia: Economic Relations: Currying Favor-Patience Sorely Tested-Asian Extremes, " Far Eastern Economic Review Vol. 151, No. 4 (January, 1991), pp. 42-43.
122. For similar comments on Japanese experiences in India in the 1950s and 1960s, see Lawrence Olson, Japan in Postwar Asia (London: Council on Foreign Relations, 1970), p. 39.
123. See David Brewster, "Developments in India's Relations with South Korea: A Useful Friend in East Asia?" Asian Survey Vol. 50, No. 2 (forthcoming).
124. For example, see "Report of the India-Japan Joint Study Group, " Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, June 2006. Available at http://www.mofa.go.jp/.
125. "Manmohan Singh's Visit to Japan: Recent Trends, Historical Perspectives, " Hitachi Research Institute, February 7, 2007.
126. Including, for example, the announced $12 billion investment by the South Korean POSCO steel company.
127. Sourabh Gupta, "Japan-India Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation: Groping towards an Asia-Wide Security Architecture, " Nautilus Institute Policy Forum Online 08-085A, November 4, 2008.
128. Siddharth Varadarajan, "India, Japan Say New Security Ties Not Directed against China, " The Hindu, October 23, 2008.
129. "India's Leap Forward and Japan: Twenty-Ninth Policy Recommendations, " The Policy Council, The Japanese Forum on International Relations, September 2007.