Trade on agenda of Tokyo talks
Sushma Swaraj meets her counterpart, Taro Kono, for India-Japan Strategic Dialogue
India and Japan will discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the first high-level meeting since the Quadrilateral and iron out growing worries over bilateral trade as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Tokyo on Thursday. The two sides are meeting for the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue, instituted in 2007 as an annual dialogue held alternately in Delhi and Tokyo.
“We look forward to intensive discussions on a wide range of our cooperation agenda which includes infrastructure, business, security and people to people exchanges. We will also discuss situations surrounding the Indo-Pacific region and global agenda,” Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu told The Hindu.
Among the discussions will be the next steps in the Quadrilateral engagement between India-Japan-US-Australia, a project initiated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007, which was revived in 2017, with a meeting of officials of all four countries. The next meeting is expected this year, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan for the annual summit. Ms. Swaraj and Mr. Kono are expected to discuss actions required to keep a “free and open Indo-Pacific” as well as developing joint connectivity projects in Asia and Africa.
According to an MEA statement, India and Japan have stepped up relations with a “fresh impetus” in ties after Mr. Modi’s visit to Japan in 2014. “Japan is today one of the largest investors in India, with a growing presence in infrastructure projects, manufacturing, financial markets and capacity-building, among others,” the statement issued ahead of Ms. Swaraj’s visit said.
Japan’s development agency JICA provided India with soft loans of more than US$23.36 billion at minimal rates, becoming the biggest donor partner, while India is JICA’s largest recipient since 2008, with its biggest investment in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
However concerns over declining trade also hang over the engagement, with Indian exports to Japan having halved in the four years from $6.81 billion in 2013-14 to $3.85 billion in 2016-17, while the trade deficit more than doubled in that period.
“It is clear that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed in 2011 has belied expectations, and trade has fallen all around between both countries, although investment has been rising significantly, and this will no doubt be discussed during the Strategic dialogue which encompasses all ties,” said Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, former Ambassador to Japan.
Another irritant in ties has been the case between auto major Nissan that invoked the international arbitration clause in the CEPA to recover unpaid tax refunds to the tune of Rs. 5000 crores ($770 million). The case is stuck in the Madras high court at present, with efforts on for a settlement.
India and Japan will discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the first high-level meeting since the Quadrilateral and iron out growing worries over bilateral trade as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Tokyo on Thursday. The two sides are meeting for the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue, instituted in 2007 as an annual dialogue held alternately in Delhi and Tokyo.
“We look forward to intensive discussions on a wide range of our cooperation agenda which includes infrastructure, business, security and people to people exchanges. We will also discuss situations surrounding the Indo-Pacific region and global agenda,” Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu told The Hindu.
Among the discussions will be the next steps in the Quadrilateral engagement between India-Japan-US-Australia, a project initiated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007, which was revived in 2017, with a meeting of officials of all four countries. The next meeting is expected this year, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan for the annual summit. Ms. Swaraj and Mr. Kono are expected to discuss actions required to keep a “free and open Indo-Pacific” as well as developing joint connectivity projects in Asia and Africa.
According to an MEA statement, India and Japan have stepped up relations with a “fresh impetus” in ties after Mr. Modi’s visit to Japan in 2014. “Japan is today one of the largest investors in India, with a growing presence in infrastructure projects, manufacturing, financial markets and capacity-building, among others,” the statement issued ahead of Ms. Swaraj’s visit said.
Japan’s development agency JICA provided India with soft loans of more than US$23.36 billion at minimal rates, becoming the biggest donor partner, while India is JICA’s largest recipient since 2008, with its biggest investment in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
However concerns over declining trade also hang over the engagement, with Indian exports to Japan having halved in the four years from $6.81 billion in 2013-14 to $3.85 billion in 2016-17, while the trade deficit more than doubled in that period.
“It is clear that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed in 2011 has belied expectations, and trade has fallen all around between both countries, although investment has been rising significantly, and this will no doubt be discussed during the Strategic dialogue which encompasses all ties,” said Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, former Ambassador to Japan.
Another irritant in ties has been the case between auto major Nissan that invoked the international arbitration clause in the CEPA to recover unpaid tax refunds to the tune of Rs. 5000 crores ($770 million). The case is stuck in the Madras high court at present, with efforts on for a settlement.