India, Japan discuss China, Russia in 2+2 talks as analysts urge ‘realistic’ relationship

Officials holding ‘2+2’ meeting in Tokyo; observers say that while Beijing is a mutual concern, Japan is also worried about India’s links to Moscow

Talks are also likely to include Japanese manufacturers shifting from China to India and both nations’ concerns over energy security

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India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh (R) and Japan’s defence minister Yasukazu Hamada attend an honour guard ceremony before a Japan-India bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Thursday. Photo: via Reuters

Published: 8:00pm, 8 Sep 2022

Senior government officials of Japan and India were holding a “two-plus-two” meeting in Tokyo on Thursday, with security and defence issues expected to dominate the discussions in a year that marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Analysts say that in addition to the challenges posed by Beijing, Japan is, in private, concerned about India’s close ties with Moscow, which have not faltered in spite of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They caution, however, against applying too much diplomatic pressure on New Delhi to switch its allegiances.

Other issues on the agenda are likely to include Japanese development assistance, the shift among Japanese manufacturers from China to India and both nations’ concerns over energy security.

The conference is being hosted by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada, while the Indian delegation is headed by External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister. Singh is also due to hold separate talks on defence issues and is expected to call on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while he is in Tokyo.

The “two-plus-two” meeting is the second between the two nations after India hosted a similar get-together of ministers three years ago, an effort to engage that was very much championed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he sought allies in the Indo-Pacific region to counter an increasingly outward-looking and belligerent China.

As early as 2007, Abe delivered a speech in the Indian parliament in which he declared, “The Pacific and the Indian Oceans are now bringing about a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and of prosperity.” Such was the importance that India placed on its ties with Japan that New Delhi declared a national day of mourning after Abe was assassinated in July.