Possible Pointers for Modi-Kishida Summit

Further, the camaraderie between Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Modi is one of the most talked about bonhomie in the recent years. The two leaders have developed an extremely close bond which could be seen in their interactions during visits and summits. The last summit between India and Japan was scheduled to be held in Guwahati in 2019 but was cancelled due to the CAA protests and this was followed by the Coronavirus Pandemic which further delayed this Summit and so, from 19 March to 20 March 2022, the India-Japan Summit would be held in India. Also, this year marks, 70 years of Diplomatic Relations between India and Japan and that also acts as a symbol of closer and cooperative relations between the two countries. With Prime Minister Kishida visiting India, there are several speculations as to what all will be discussed in the India-Japan in person Summit. Thereby, this article will try to analyse and discuss what could be the possible key points which India and Japan could discuss in this Summit.

Possible Pointers of Convergences

India and Japan could possibly discuss about the Ukraine Crisis as it is of vital geopolitical importance to both the countries. India shares an excellent relation with Russia and India has been offered oil at a lesser price and it is believed that India would be taking the oil offered by Russia at a lesser price. Also, India has abstained from voting in the United Nations against Russia. On the contrary, Japan is a neighbour of Russia and over the years, they have faced issues with regard to the Kuril Islands. Also, Japan being an Alliance partner of the US has been putting across their dissatisfaction towards Russia’s move to invade Ukraine. Also, Russia has warned of a nuclear war and this has made the world extremely worried. Japan is the only country to have faced the impact of the nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and so, it clearly understands the disastrous impact a nuclear war would have. Also, Prime Minister Kishida is against any nuclear weapon and so, obviously the Russian nuclear war warning is extremely worrisome.

The Summit could possibly discuss about the defence relations between India and Japan. India and Japan must look towards and give greater importance to strengthen the cross-domain capabilities especially integrated defence network which would consist of the land, air, water, defence, cyber, electromagnetic, spectrum and missile domains. With the global situation becoming more and more volatile, there is a need to stress upon advanced readiness, resiliency and interoperability and work on ways for deeper cooperation in areas of asset protection missions, joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and this should be accompanied with realistic training and exercises along with flexible deterrent options and strategic messaging. Thereby, there needs to be a focus on how both the countries could work on joint or shared use of facilities which would be extremely helpful in the time of extreme need and for that preparedness is important.

Also, India and Japan need to look and work towards encrypted military constellations as it would help constellations hypergraph network to provide data security and since, it would be an end-to-end data security solution using blockchain encryption and distribution data management which could be a very big help to all the armed forces. This data if used can be useful for operations of aircraft and ships under contract and this is possible as the US is already working on this, so Japan and India can also ask for help from the US. If the US helps India and Japan, then data preservation centres can be created and that would be an excellent way to tackle cyber security and protect critical technologies from cyber-attacks. Also, with regard to security, the submarine cables should be used as underwater radar system to detect submarines passing by and this can be brilliant in tackling Chinese aggressiveness in the East China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

There is a need to look at space technology. For India and Japan, there is a need for secure, stable and sustainable space domain which allow space awareness, mission assurance, interoperability and joint responses to deal with serious threats in the future also work on discussions on proliferated low earth orbit satellite constellations. Further, with regard to spaced technology, there is a need for system integration which would help collaborate the issues of cyber, space, human machine interface and bio-robotics which would extremely important as these if developed can be used in the domain of space technology especially through nano satellites and pico satellites. If India and Japan invest and cooperate on space technology, then they can help in the observation of the Earth which would help them collect and interpret data natural resources. It would also help in the internet of things and that would further connect via infrastructures in space.

Also, if this space technology is properly invested in then maritime security operations can lead to an altogether different direction like protecting the critical maritime infrastructure as in ports, port facilities, off-shore installations, energy supplies by the sea, underwater pipelines, submarine cables, security of the crews and protection against piracy, illegal transportation and drugs, human tariffing. Further, it could help out multiple information sources and technological framework. The real time infrastructure could also help change the tactical scenario as there would information sharing and creation of shared situational awareness and also help in command and control through imaginary, surveillance and communication services.

The two countries could possibility discuss the joint investments to accelerate economic growth, the bullet train project and look to further, accelerate innovation in the domain of technological edge in critical and emerging fields like artificial intelligence, machine learning, directed energy and quantum computing. The two countries, if possible, must think about discussing counter-hypersonic technology which would help accelerate the growth of emerging technologies and that should be further collaborated in the domain of procurement and resilient defence supply chains.

India and Japan have dealt with Coronavirus in their own ways and have been extremely supportive of another. Both the countries need to discuss about the Post Pandemic Therapeutic Mechanisms for both the countries as it has been seen that patients who have recovered from covid are facing issues of diabetics, asthma and respiratory related issues and other post-covid recovery issues. Both countries need to look for ways to deal with these issues and also invest greatly in alternative methods of medical mediation like using AYUSH.

There is a possibility that the two countries would be discussing about the international law and the need to work on the rules-based international order. There are other issues which the two leaders might be discussing like the importance of peace and stability in Taiwan Strait, the centrality of ASEAN especially with Cambodia taking over as the Chairmanship and also discussing the violence issues in Myanmar. Summit agenda might even focus on issues like climate crisis and environmental degradation, impact on marine life, critical supply chains, gender equality and empowerment along with also aim to work on development finance.

Finally, the Summit should be focusing on the recent QUAD meeting where they discussed a whole of things in detail and strengthen QUAD and focus on the Indo-Pacific.

Conclusion

The relations between India and Japan have blossomed over the years and with the years to come, the relations are only expected to become stronger and closer. With 70 years of Diplomatic relations, it is sure that the relations between the countries still have more potential areas of growth and cooperation and that would surely take place in the future.

.Pic Courtsey-Ryo Yoshitake

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)