The recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to India marks a significant moment in the geopolitics of great powers.
The recently concluded visit of the Japanese premier Sanae Takaichi must be viewed in that context. Determined to deepen Indo-Japanese cooperation, the visit came at a critical time in Asian geopolitics—the increasing discord between America and its Asian allies. The visit’s aims were to not only solidify cooperation between India and Japan in the economic realm but also to strengthen the strategic nature of the partnership across a number of domains that have assumed salience in recent years—defense, infrastructure, tourism, among others.
The visit, therefore, necessitates a deeper analysis from the perspective of what it means for the stakeholders involved.
Hedging against American Uncertainty
Under the Trump administration, America’s approach towards its allies, particularly those in Asia, has been marked by a combination of threats, blusters, and pure transactional politics. This combination, manifesting itself in economically coercive measures like the imposition of punitive tariffs, refusal to guarantee the safety of allies, and unnecessary meddling in matters that essentially are the internal issues of countries, has become the cause for a lot of discomfiture for the United States’ Asian allies.
A key issue in this is the increasingly ambivalent attitude of Uncle Sam in the Indo-Pacific region. The renaming of a key American armed force command is reflective of this change. In order to reduce their dependence on America, India and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment towards keeping the strategic Indo-Pacific region ‘free and open.’ This signals the strategic alignment of India’s new MAHASAGAR vision and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Initiative. The aim is clear—to de-risk the Asian naval architecture from Washington’s foreign policy flip-flops.
The Inter-Asian Rivalry is Heating Up
If oil was the totem of power in the 19th and 20th centuries, critical minerals are the new currency of power in the 21st century. Not only is it necessary for the sustenance of key sectors of an economy, but the possession of large reserves of such minerals coupled with the ability to refine and process them into durable finished products is also the new marker of national power. In this context, China has been extremely well endowed. Beijing possesses high reserves of gallium, graphite, and controls 40% to 90% of the refining and processing capacities of lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
Cognizant of China’s ability to strategically leverage such natural resources to fulfill its national interest, both countries have deepened their cooperation. This finds its expression in the signing of a joint declaration between both countries to develop a sustainable roadmap towards ensuring the uninterrupted supply of raw materials and minerals that are vital for the maintenance of industrial production.
Apart from this, both countries are trying to explore the maritime domain to strengthen their supply chains; this is evident from India’s Ministry of Mines and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Technology, and Industry forging an agreement that is aimed at promoting joint exploration, deep sea mining, and stockpiling such findings. This underlines how maritime areas like the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Sea of Japan are acquiring increasing salience in the strategic matrix of both countries. An important lesson that can be understood from this is the fact that emphasis on keeping the Indo-Pacific region open is directed towards China, which has come to adopt a strategically assertive posture in the region.
Oil Still Matters
The war in the Middle East exposed how, despite renewable energy becoming the focus of global energy architecture, hydrocarbon sources continue to occupy a consequential place in the energy matrix of the world. In order to reduce the likelihood of future energy disruptions upending their economies, India and Japan signed pacts on strategic stockpiles and reserve mechanisms. The Clean Ammonia Project in the Indian state of Odisha being built with Japanese investment and the Cooperative Bio Gas initiative signed by both serves as a testimony to the fact that both countries are determined to not only shield their respective populations from such energy uncertainties but also double down on green energy projects in order to accelerate the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable tomorrow.
The Japanese premier’s India visit thus signals that both India and Japan are working towards reorienting the architecture of great power politics in Asia towards a more certain, predictable, and stable direction. In this context, multipolarity and developing bulwarks against the intensifying China-America geopolitical competition are becoming prominent, thereby highlighting that the future of Eurasia will be drawn by native powers and not others.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
Follow new articles on our Telegram channel
