Indo-Japan Partnership Aimed At Counter Balancing China: Chinese Daily

Beijing: The 'Special Strategic Global Partnership' struck by India and Japan during the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India is aimed at counter balancing China to emerge as regional powers, a state-run Chinese daily said today.

"Behind this special partnership is the ambition of the two countries to become regional powers and even global powers. It also reveals their intention to counterbalance a rising China," an article in the state run Global Times said.

"The Japan-India 'Special Strategic Global Partnership' is becoming a reality. However, such special partnership seems to be fragile, given China's firm economic ties with both, the two's different preferences for strategic security and economic technologies and the gambling mentality of the leaders from both sides," it said.

Tokyo and New Delhi are hoping to impose pressure on China by clinging to the other, but at the same time, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abe are making efforts to improve ties with China.

"Neither wants to be the first one to clash with China, while both are prepared to seek gains from the other side's conflicts with Beijing," it said.

Advertisement

Referring to a number of agreements such as high-speed rail and defence technology and civilian use of nuclear power, the article said, "Abe has achieved all his aims from his India visit and described the agreements as heralding a new era of cooperation between the two nations."

"Whether this is a new era for the two is open for discussion. But what's clear for India and Japan watchers is that Abe is pushing forward bilateral ties regardless of the costs," it said in apparent reference highly concessional loans offered by Japan to bag the first high speed rail deal between Mumbai and Ahmedabad putting pressure on China, which is also trying to bag the bullet train contract in India.

Advertisement

"Knowing Abe's intentions, Modi has made contrived promises to lure Abe making more compromises or even abandoning his principles," it said.

"The cooperation of India and Japan on nuclear power and defence may exert a huge impact on the Asian landscape. The signing of the MoU indicates that Japan has steered away from its persistent principles by cooperating for the first time with a country that has not joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It means Japan admits that a country without joining the NPT can own nuclear weapons... This is a turning point in Japan's nuclear policy," the article said.