With China as the common factor, India-Japan ties move to the next level

By IN Bureau New Delhi, Feb 16 : With China as the elephant in the room, India-Japan strategic ties are moving to the next level. Both countries are leveraging the location of India’s North-East region, to secure a trans-border regional corridor where China’s interference would be minimised.
From their perch in Guwahati, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Japan’s ambassador to India, Satoshi Suzuki, went out of their way to nail the convergence of India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) doctrine. The two made it plain that India’s North-East was a focal point of the Indo-Pacific, bridging the rest of India with the 10-nation ASEAN.
Jaishankar thumbed Assam as the launch pad of India’s Act East Policy through which India will link its North-East states to the South-East Asian nations and beyond. He also focussed on improving connectivity within the North-East along with neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Jaishankar said: “The Act East Policy is an approach to create connectivity to and within Assam, beyond to the north-east then to neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh but eventually push all the way by road, sea, air to Vietnam to Japan.” Speaking at the Guwahati Water Supply Project site near the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati, Suzuki affirmed that Japan remained fully invested in the rise of the North-East – a necessary condition for India’s advance to a $5 trillion economy. “For India to achieve the 5-trillion-dollar economy, the development of the North-East is indispensable. I am sure India is driving and mobilizing all its capacities and resources for this goal… I came here today to say that Japan stands together with you to this end.” The Japanese envoy also connected the dots of linking the North-East with the broader Indo-Pacific – a region that is located on either side of the Malacca straits that bridge the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.
“Japan always takes a panoramic perspective in its diplomacy. The vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific (FOIP) is at its center; and India’s North East, including Assam, occupies an important place in this vision. Connecting India with Southeast Asia and to the Bay of Bengal does make sense both economically and strategically. North-East is situated where India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific converge. To be ‘free and open’ is critical here in Assam. That is why Japan is supporting various connectivity projects in this state.”