Japan

In a remarkable development in the Indo-Pacific political puzzle, on August 20 this year Japan and India held a 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi in which the foreign and defense ministers of both countries took part. It was the third meeting of its kind, the first of which took place in New Delhi in November 2019. The original decision to create this bilateral platform was taken following a series of reciprocal visits by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart at the time, Shinzo Abe.

On August 14 of this year, Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida announced that he will not run for head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party at the end of the three-year term provided for in the party’s charter. This is a remarkable event in the current life of the country.

During the summer of 2024, Japan sharply intensified its foreign policy in its most important aspects, particularly on China and Pacific states. In our opinion, this intensification and some improvements in Japanese relations with China are primarily related to balancing its military and political activities with Western countries. On the one hand, Japan is building up its own defence potential and strengthening various multilateral formats in the field of security; on the other hand, it is trying to reduce tension in relations with China.