New Delhi: Under the long shadow of the Ukraine war, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida targeted Russia as he courted a ‘Global South’ through an investment of $75 billion and committed to a rules-based international order with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Indo-Pacific region.
Kishida began his two-day visit to India with formal talks with PM Modi and delivered a speech that laid out Tokyo’s plan to promote a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” through aid for developing countries, maritime security assistance and connectivity cooperation. The Indian Prime Minister also played host to his Japanese guest for a stroll through Buddha Jayanti Park.
The Japanese PM’s courtship of the ‘Global South’ was seemingly geared to curb China’s widespread influence in the region through its Belt and Road Initiative. But, in his policy speech delivered in Delhi, Kishida did not directly name China. However, he explicitly referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at least seven times during his 35-minute-long speech.
Japan, under PM Kishida, has been one of the most vocal critics of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, in line with the United States and the Western countries. In contrast, India has refrained from publicly criticising Moscow and has become one of the top buyers of Russian oil since the start of the Ukraine war.
According to the Japanese foreign ministry’s readout, Kishida told Modi during their working lunch that in the context of the Ukraine war that “unilateral changes to the status quo by force that violates international law should not be allowed anywhere in the world, including Asia”.
Japan claimed that both Kishida and Modi “confirmed that they share a common responsibility to maintain and strengthen the international order based on the rule of law, and shared the view that it is important to clarify this idea at the G7 and G20 meetings”.
In his policy speech, Kishida made it clear that the reason for re-articulating the principles of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) was the Ukraine war.
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine oblige us to face the most fundamental challenge; defending peace. Various challenges related to “global commons”, such as climate and the environment, global health and cyberspace, have become more serious. I will incorporate these new elements of addressing peace and the global commons-related issues into FOIP. Also, I will take further measures in areas such as connectivity and freedom of the seas that have been the focus of FOIP thus far,” he said.
The Japanese PM also argued that the reason for promoting FOIP at this time was due to the differences in the international community over their approach to the Ukraine war. “One characteristic of this turning point (in history) is the lack of a guiding perspective that is acceptable to all about what the international order should be. This was clearly demonstrated by the considerable discrepancies in the attitudes across various countries toward Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
While Kishidia did not publicly refer to China, the Japanese foreign ministry stated that Modi and Kishida noted that they “would not tolerate unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas”.
In his press statement after the talks, the Indian PM did not refer to either Russia or China. But, he noted that the “India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is based on our shared democratic values, and respect for the rule of law in the international arena.
“Strengthening this partnership is not only important for both our countries, but it also promotes peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. In our conversation today, we have reviewed the progress made in our bilateral relations,” he added.
The other important issues that came up during the talks were Sri Lanka, North Korea and reforms in the UN Security Council.
The Indian foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters that the Indian PM conveyed to Kishida “co-innovation, co-design and co-creation” in the defence sector.
Two agreements on a fourth tranche of the loan for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and cooperation in education of the Japanese language were also signed.
