Space, cyber, chip-manufacturing, and other emerging technologies also priority areas

The increasingly unpredictable geopolitical environment, essentially emerging out of the rise and apparent global ambitions of China as an economic and military superpower, and United States of American’s manoeuvring to contain its influence on the world stage, is threatening the very fabric of international peace.

Lesser, but significant powers like India, with rapidly growing economies and with aspirations of playing a far greater role in world affairs, are finding themselves sandwiched in this superpower rivalry.

Despite its enviable status as the fastest growing among the major economies of the world, India finds itself in a tense geopolitical environment.

The pressures of facing two hostile neighbours in the North and Northwest, and its quest for hard-to-get high-end technology and investment, not only to support its ambitious future economic growth plans, but also to bolster its defences, are testing to the hilt India’s resilience as a nation.

Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the balancing act the country is having to play between the warring parties, in which its close defence partners Russia and Israel are arguably seen to be the aggressors, are only further complicating matters for India.

In such a scenario, disruptions in international supply chains and possibility of arm twisting in single supplier situations for various critical components, equipment, materials and technologies, has the potential of jeopardising the country’s national interests, including security and its push for self-reliance.

India wary of US partnership

It is in this context that India’s deepening economic and defence ties with technology giant Japan assume greater importance. Despite its growing defence and technology partnerships with the USA, the government is wary of depending too heavily on it and thereby exposing itself to possible arm-twisting tactics. It has already felt the pinch of steadfastly resisting pressures to align with the US and its allies in the geopolitical battleground.

The sudden slowdown by the US in fulfilling its crucial contractual defence obligations towards India, including the supply of critical F404 engines for the rollout of the indigenous Tejas MK1 fighter jets, and the six additional Apache attack helicopters ordered by the Indian government, strengthen the apprehensions in the Indian establishment of Washinton not being a long-term reliable partner.

Tokyo, which has had longstanding strong economic ties with New Delhi, could possibly be a reliable defence partner too, especially in the field of transfer of technology and co-development and co-production of futuristic military hardware.

India is already exploring increased avenues of sourcing high-end defence equipment and technology from its other significant suppliers like France, Germany, United Kingdom and South Korea.

Japan’s revised National Security Strategy

Japan has had a history of stringent defence equipment export controls, inspired by its pacifist Constitution, adopted following its surrender to the allied forces in World War II.

But with heightened concerns over China’s growing assertiveness on territorial disputes, North Korea’s belligerence and Russia’s aggressive posture towards it, Japan revised its National Security Strategy (NSS) in 2022.

The move signalled the country’s drift away from its pacifist security stance of adopting a self defence posture (Japan’s defence forces are called Self-Defence Forces) to acquiring counter-strike capabilities and increasing defence spending by 2 per cent of its GDP.

Underscoring the recent urgency with which Tokyo is pursuing its Indo-Pacific strategic outreach, Japan has had a series of crucial 2+2 (foreign and defence ministers’) meetings with its allies, including with the United States and Philippines, and a defence trilateral with the US and South Korea in the past few weeks.

This was followed by the 2+2 dialogue with India on August 20 (planned to be an annual fixture, the third in the series of dialogues was held after two years of its 2^nd edition in Japan in 2022), for which Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko and Minister of Defence Kihara Minoru travelled to New Delhi.

The meeting with their Indian counterparts, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with delegations from both sides, though it demonstrated significant progress in the bilateral relationship over the past few years, appeared to highlight that both sides need to move faster and harder in their negotiations to ease the Japanese restrictions on transfer of high-end technology, especially in the field of defence.

Joint statement

The joint statement issued at the end of the dialogue noted impressive achievements in defence cooperation between the two nations, especially participation by Japanese fighter aircraft in ‘Tarang Shakti’, the first multilateral exercise hosted by the Indian Air Force; the inaugural edition of the bilateral fighter exercise ‘Veer Guardian 2023’; and conduct of the bilateral exercises of all the three services, all in one calendar year for the first time in 2023.

But negotiations for the first major defence deal between the two nations – the transfer of cutting-edge Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) and related Japanese technologies for Indian warships – are still far from being concluded. Though the joint statement appreciated the progress made in the negotiations, it also emphasised the need for early signing of related agreements.

The naval communication antennas for warships are crucial to strengthening India’s naval prowess because of their ability to integrate multiple antennas which enhance a warship’s stealth capabilities.

Experts point out that while continuing with its ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliance) push, India needs to plug into newer opportunities opening up in Japan’s defence sector, like co-development and co-production of defence equipment. Japan itself has in the recent past entered into bilateral and trilateral agreements with various close allies to jointly develop cutting edge futuristic defence technologies, including for next-generation fighter aircraft. India could explore joining such initiatives.

Space, cyber, chip manufacturing are other areas where India and Japan need to work closely by overcoming the challenges of cost competitiveness, technology transfer, and export controls.

Joint research project in unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs)

Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) and its Indian counterpart, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), had in 2018 entered into an agreement for cooperative research in unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and robotics, but little is known about the outcome of the initiative on the ground.

Though the joint statement “appreciated the successful completion of the cooperation in the areas of Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)/Robotics,” it, however, did not reveal any details about the outcome of the research project.

In the field of fostering people-to-people exchanges, the joint statement appreciated the significance of India’s decision to establish a new consulate in Fukuoka, Japan (bringing the total number of Indian missions in Japan to three. Japan currently has five missions in India).

The impending celebration of India Month in Japan and Japan Month in India in September was also welcomed in the joint statement.

Link to joint statement

https://www.mofa.go.jp/s_sa/sw/in/pageite_000001_00002.html#:~:text=The%20Ministers%20welcomed%20the%20possibilities,Special%20Strategic%20and%20Global%20Partnership.