A Study Of Japan-India Relations During Abe's Second Administration

Since the second Shinzo Abe administration took started at the end of 2012,Japan has continued to strengthen cooperation in the economic,political,security and cultural fields towards India.Compared with the previous policy,the Abe administration has added new fields and launched new forms of cooperation with India,deepened the fields of cooperation,put more attention on security cooperation,and promoted Japan's "Indo-Pacific Strategy" through multilateral cooperation.The reason for the second Abe administration to strengthen its policy towards India lies here: under the background of the "Asia-Pacific Rebalance" proposed by the U.S.in order to maintain its dominance in the Asia-Pacific region,the Abe administration "actively responds" to the strategic adjustment of the U.S.,takes the opportunity to promote Japan-India security cooperation,and advances the process of Japan becoming a major political and military power.In addition,Abe's prime minister-led foreign policy and Modi's "eastward" strategy provide favorable internal and external conditions for the Abe government to strengthen its policy toward India.Japan-India cooperation has enhanced the influence of the two states in the Indo-Pacific region.However,there are also differences in bilateral cooperation.The two states fear each other and will not be close in security cooperation involving their core interests.They will not fully obey the U.S.to contain China as well.Therefore,the strategic cooperation is to seek common security interests which is limited.In short,in the adjustment of the Asia-Pacific regional structure,the reason why Abe strengthened his policy toward India in his second term is,on the one hand,driven by the external force of the "Asia-Pacific Rebalance" strategy of the U.S.;on the other hand,it comes from the national strategic impetus of realizing the transformation of Japan into a great power.