Why Is Japan Bailing Out Modi Govt Even As Global Concerns Rise On Kashmir theprint.in

The international community’s unease over the continued incarceration of three former chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir – Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti – since the dilution of Article 370 that took away the erstwhile state’s special status in August as well as the issue of Assam NRC, has grown every month.

Several statements by Germany, Sweden, Finland, the European Union and the US Congress have suggested that the situation in Kashmir is not “sustainable,” that India must start talking to Pakistan, and that any political resolution must take the “wishes of the Kashmiri people” into account.
The Narendra Modi government has ignored all these suggestions; and last week, it pulled off a diplomatic coup and received what could amount to the much-needed ‘support’ – from its ally Japan.

In the teeth of rising concern that India was isolating itself by refusing to join the China-led bloc of nations that had signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Japan announced it would also not sign the RCEP dotted line if India was not going to do so.

A day after, the two countries held the 2+2 dialogue between the foreign affairs and defence ministers in New Delhi.

The Modi government will draw a lot of hope from Japanese deputy minister for economy, trade and industry Hideki Makihara’s comments on the RCEP. Tokyo would have never done something as significant as this if its chief friend and ally, the United States, was not on board. Certainly, the Japanese want India to assert its influence in the Indo-Pacific to contain China.