New Delhi: With a tenure of nine years, Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan – from 2006-07 and again from 2012-20. His second term as Prime Minister was marked by increased cooperation with India in several areas. And as the world stunned by the attack on Abe, here’s how he shaped a new innings with New Delhi.
Narendra Modi visited Japan in September 2014 – a few months after becoming PM. Modi and Abe agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a “Special Strategic and Global Partnership”. The new relationship covers a wide range of issues from civil nuclear power to maritime security, from bullet trains to quality infrastructure, from Act East policy to Indo-Pacific strategy. (Also Read: “We Have 9000 Employees. Have A Liability”: Vivo India Challenges ED To Freeze Bank Account)
The two countries signed a nuclear deal in 2016, which proved crucial to India’s deals with US and French nuclear firms that either owned or held stakes in Japanese firms. This was largely due to Abe, who ignored opposition within Japan to sign the agreement with a non-NPT member. [ये भी पढ़ें: भारत में अगले 5 साल में पेट्रोल बैन होगा: नितिन गडकरी]
India and Japan also have an agreement that allows their navies to use each other’s ports. Along with Australia, the two countries have also pledged to boost supply chains in the Indo-Pacific, which is widely seen as a safeguard against China.
On the economic side, Japan spent a record 522.4 billion yen (US$4.9 billion) on India’s development projects in 2018-19, including high-speed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad; and industrial corridors between Delhi and Mumbai and Chennai and Bengaluru.
Japan is funding 80 per cent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project through soft loans of Rs 79,000 crore at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent, with a tenure of over 50 years and a moratorium of 15 years.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project has attracted an investment of $4.5 billion from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The investment has been made in the first phase of the project and Japan has a 26 per cent stake.
Japan has also invested $2 billion to improve infrastructure in India’s northeast. Project for Renovation and Modernization of Japan Guwahati Water Supply Project, Guwahati Sewage Project, North-East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project, Umiam-Umtru Phase III Hydroelectric Power Station (Meghalaya), Sustainable Watershed Forest Management Project (Meghalaya), among others is included in. Tripura), and Project on Capacity Augmentation for Sustainable Agriculture and Irrigation Development (Mizoram).
Japan has an investment target of five trillion yen in India over the next five years – key sectors being manufacturing, climate change and infrastructure.
Japan is the fifth largest investor in India with cumulative FDI inflows of $36 billion during April 2000 and March 2022, contributing 6.28 per cent to India’s total FDI inflows during the period. At present, there are about 1,455 Japanese companies operating in India.
India’s total trade with Japan has grown to $15.3 billion in 2020-21, with exports at $4.4 billion and imports at $10.9 billion, making it India’s 13th largest trading partner.
India’s imports from Japan show a growth of nearly 73 percent in just 13 years, from $6.3bn in 2007-08 to $10.9bn in 2020-21. Major imports from Japan include nuclear reactors, electrical machinery and equipment, copper, plastics, inorganic chemicals, rare earth metals and compounds of precious metals.
India’s exports showed a growth of 14.2 percent over 13 years, reaching $4.4 billion in 2020-21 from $3.85 billion in 2007-08. Major exports to Japan include mineral fuels and mineral oils, organic chemicals, fish and other aquatic invertebrates, and natural or cultured pearls.
As the 5th largest investor, Japan has contributed $36.2bn in cumulative investments since 2000, particularly in automobiles, electronics systems design and manufacturing (ESDM), medical devices, consumer goods, textiles, food processing and chemicals. . Some of the major Japanese firms in India include Maruti, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Hitachi, Sony and Panasonic, which employ millions of Indian youth.