The 1st IISS-Citi India Global Forum
India as a Rising Great Power:
Challenges and Opportunities
New Delhi, 18–20 April 2008
Third Plenary Session:
India’s Defence Diplomacy
Ichita Yamamoto
Ranking member, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, House of Councillors;
Former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Japan
Security in Asia Pacific from the Japanese Perspective
(Provisional transcript as delivered)
I am a member of the Japanese parliament, and I belong to the ruling party of Japan. Since I started my career as a parliamentarian 30 years ago, I have been dealing mainly with foreign policy and security matters in the Japanese political circle as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Japanese upper house, or as the chairman of the LDP’s foreign policy committee. At the same time, I am a rock musician who has released six CDs. I would like to sing a song here because it is much more appealing to participants, and it is easier for me than to talk about India’s defence policy. However, I will try to give you a big picture overview about the security circumstances in the Asia-Pacific region from the Japanese perspective.
I visited India eight years ago as a state secretary of foreign affairs. The purpose of my visit at that time was twofold: to resume talks between the two governments whose relations became chilled in the aftermath of India’s nuclear test in 1998. Japan, being the only state which has suffered a nuclear attack in human history, joined the international community to criticise India’s nuclear test and suspended its official development assistance to India and Pakistan, except for humanitarian purposes. Japanese aid to both countries resumed after the visit of Prime Minister Mori to India in 2000, and the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001.
The second purpose was to ask the government of India to take a more positive approach to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CNTBT). During my stay in Delhi, I met with Indian cabinet ministers, senior government officers, journalists and scholars and discussed India’s foreign defence policy, in particular India’s nuclear strategy. I recall that everybody I met during that visit said that India was compelled to pursue the nuclear option due to its strategic surroundings, including nuclear capabilities, developed not only by Pakistan, but also by China. I have to confess that at that time I did not imagine that India would achieve such a dynamic growth in the subsequent eight years and become one of the most exciting economies in the world. More than that, I never dreamed that China would rise so rapidly to become one of the largest economies only eight years later and that China would overtake Japan as the second largest economy within a few years.
Now that China has become an influential power in many ways, we cannot talk about the Indian defence policy and China’s defence policy without the Chinese factor. In other words, security in Asia hinges upon China, which continues to increase its military spending by more than 10% per year. It now has the third largest military budget in the world.
As Japan and China have some issues to solve, India and China also take different positions on several issues. The three nations have their own national interests and these differences sometimes generate friction.
Nevertheless, their basic goal is the same: to forge strategic win win relationships together. In order to create such an environment, both India and Japan must strengthen bilateral ties with China which would stabilise security conditions in Asia. In fact, the relations between Japan and China entered a new stage two years ago when Prime Minster Abe met with the Chinese President Hu Jintao and agreed to mutual beneficial relations for strategic interests. For example, exchanges between ministers and officials in charge of defence and security in the two countries have expanded. The Chinese leader, Hu Jintao, is scheduled to visit Japan in early May.
India also stepped up its efforts towards better relations with China, especially since the visit of Prime Minister Vajpayee to China in 2003, as well as the visit to India of two Chinese top leaders, Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao. In the meeting between Hu Jintao and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, held in Beijing this January, both leaders agreed on the enlargement of economic relations, the continuation of defence exchanges and so on. As far as the defence exchanges, India and China had already practised naval exercises, in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Moreover, the first joint exercises by ground forces of both countries were held last December.
Promoting bilateral relations with China is important, but not enough to stabilise security situations in Asia. We also have to create and maintain the system of comprehensive engagement in this region, involving other important players such as the US, Korea and Australia. If China could further promote the open policy of economy, and advance political reform, China could become a responsible superpower. Yet, as we currently see with the Chinese stance towards Tibet, China’s political reform to make itself a more open and transparent system has achieved a little progress under Hu Jintao’s leadership. We should continue to urge China to follow a path to be a responsible stakeholder so as to create win win situations in this region.
There may be two ways of harnessing China. One is to establish the Camp of Nations, sharing the values of democracy in the Asia Pacific region. The Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe, made a speech in the Indian Parliament in August 2007. In the speech, Mr Abe stressed the concept of ‘broader Asia’ and mentioned that four democracies – the US, Japan, India and Australia – should strengthen their collaboration to establish an open and transparent network. Such a network should not target China, rather the mechanism is designed to be a stabilising factor in the region.
The second point is to create a multilateral mechanism for ensuring the safety and security of the Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOC) that connect the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Malacca Straits and East Asia. Japan, India and China are heavily dependent on the maritime transport to import energy resources from the Middle East. In 1999, a ship called Alondra Rainbow, operated by a Japanese captain, was captured by a pirate and subsequently rescued by the Indian Coastal Guard in the Indian Ocean. This case proved that India is an essential partner in ensuring the safety of SLOC. Since that incident, the heads of the Coastal Guards of the two countries have met and joint exercises have been implemented from time to time.
I firmly believe that Japan and India should establish a strategic partnership, including maritime security. Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force and India’s Navy have already implemented joint exercises several times. The high level talks between the defence authorities are also ongoing.
Japan has a solid security alliance with the US. Also, in March last year, Prime Minister Abe and the Australian Prime Minister Howard issued a joint declaration on security cooperation. Japan has a ‘two plus two’ consultation mechanism. This is a regular ministerial consultation between defence ministers with US and Australia. I hope that Japan and India will also expand their defence cooperation and could establish a similar two plus two mechanism between Japan and India.
Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued a joint statement towards the Japanese and Indian strategic and global partnership in December 2006 and in August 2007. These statements reiterated the commitment of both leaders to enhance defence cooperation to achieve the common goal of promoting security, stability and prosperity in Asia. Both leaders also shared the view that Japan and India must cooperate closely to ensure the safety and security of international maritime traffic. That is vital for the economic wellbeing of both countries, as well as for the region as a whole.
Last August, Prime Minister Abe gave a speech in the Indian parliament. In his speech, entitled ‘Confluence of the Two Seas,’ he noted that the Japan/India relationship is blessed with the largest potential for development of any bilateral relationship anywhere in the world. He also mentioned that a strong India is in the best interest of Japan and a strong Japan is in the best interest of India. I strongly believe that a strategic partnership between India and Japan will greatly contribute to the stability and security in the region, and the creation of a win win situation. To this end, both governments have to step up their efforts to further promote this important partnership in the years to come.
