Transformation of Japan–India security relations: from imperial–colonial era to free and open Indo-Pacific

Abstract

ABSTRACT The ‘Indo-Pacific’ framework constructed upon the emerging shift in geopolitics from the Atlantic-Pacific to the Pacific-Indian Ocean region has underlined the increasing significance of maritime space as a theatre for geopolitical competition. Japan and India, which were historically on opposite spectrums, have now evolved into regional partners to increase their strategic influence and pursue in earnest the Indo-Pacific approach towards shaping the regional and maritime dynamics. This paper delves into the fundamental transformations in Japan-India relations; beginning specifically with imperial Japan’s fostering of bonds with the revolutionary nationalist campaigns in colonial India during the Second World War. The paper goes on to analyze the pre, post-War and post-Cold War evolution of ties between Japan and India, along with the transformation in priorities of both countries, converging on the diverse contours of maritime security cooperation in alignment with the shifting undercurrents of the 21st century geopolitics.