India, Japan holding ‘2+2’ meeting
India and Japan are holding a 2+2 ministerial meeting in India on Tuesday, bringing together the foreign and defence ministers from both countries to focus on strengthening their security cooperation. Analysts note that India and Japan have been deepening their relations in recent years, focusing on aligning their efforts to enhance their respective roles in the Indo -Pacific region.
Indian External Affairs Minister Shri Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh are holding the “2+2” meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara on Tuesday.
At the meeting, the two sides “will hold full-fledged discussions” on the revision of a joint declaration on security cooperation, taking various Chinese maritime activities into account,” Japanese media outlet Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday.
The meeting will be the third of its kind since the first one in 2019. Japan and India have been enhancing their bilateral cooperation in recent years, and the latest meeting will focus on strategic coordination to increase their regional influence said analysts.
It will also address maritime issues, particularly in the West Philippines Sea and Natuna Sea. India and Japan both have distinct needs for strengthening their relationship. For India, deepening cooperation with Japan will help it diversify its Security cooperation, while Japan also benefits from an improved defence cooperation network with other countries.
US-India relations have been strained recently due to various factors, including India’s ties with Russia and US criticism of India’s human rights record and India’s counter criticism in equal measures. However Japan, which has been maintaining strong ties with both India and the US, can play a role in mediating US-India relations and enhancing the development of the Quad mechanism.
However, discrepancies in their relations with Russia and the US reflect a significant gap in their fundamental ideals and principles in foreign relations, analysts said, noting that unlike Japan – a firm ally of the US – India consistently holds a stance of non-alignment.
India and Japan have different starting points on regional and global security issues, and more obstacles may emerge when they try to deepen their bilateral and multilateral cooperation, said analysts. India can never be a Camp follower and now lays down its own Geostrategic parameters which others have to perforce take into account.
