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At the recent seventh Japan-Mekong Summit in Tokyo in the first week of July, both Japan and the Mekong countries reiterated their resolve to implement an ambitious cooperation programme called New Tokyo Strategy 2015 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation for the three years covering 2016-18.

Tokyo's growing engagement with the countries of the region is a strong reflection of Japan's desire to play a greater role in regional security. As Beijing continues to take assertive and aggressive actions in the region, Tokyo has found a way to renew its partnerships with the key actors of the region.

One can see two major reasons for PM Shinzo Abe's decision to change the policy on arms exports. First, Abe is keen to remove many of the self-imposed taboos that have stood in the way of Japan becoming a 'normal country'. At a time when the security environment in East Asia has become so tense, Japan cannot afford to neglect the modernisation of its defence industry.

Japan's new Prime Minister understands very well that peace and strategic stability in East Asia would depend on how effectively Japan and the US maintain their security alliance. And the Obama administration is supportive of Abe's moves and would be interested in initiating regular triangular security talks with Tokyo and Seoul.

Despite the change of guards in Japan, the new government has reaffirmed its commitment to maintain "global and strategic partnership" with India

Japan has announced its new military policy changes, amidst escalating tensions, particularly in Northeast Asia. In a major military policy shift, its new National Defense Programme Guidelines has called for shifting of forces from the northern islands of Hokkaido towards the southern islands,

One compelling reason for Japan to adopt the new energy policy was the Abe government's recognition that in the absence of nuclear energy, which accounted for 30% of the total electricity until recently, the country had to pay heavily for importing oil and gas from abroad.

The passing of the security legislation recently has fulfilled at least partly PM Abe's long-drawn quest towards making Japan a normal country. He has always believed that Article 9 of the US authored Japanese constitution, which put severe restrictions on Japan's right to collective self-defence, should be amended.

The nuclear debate in Japan has given scope for fresh anxieties within the region and beyond about the country's nuclear programme, particularly its recycling programme of extracted plutonium from spent nuclear fuel.

The rise, if you want to call it that, of another Asian power on the flanks of China, one which also has difficulties with Beijing, is to India's advantage. New Delhi is not unaware of the geopolitical benefits.

Japan is facing extremely dangerous situation in North East Asia where North Korea is developing nuclear weapons. It is also witnessing China's excessive assertiveness in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. So, situations like these will influence the way Japan will shape its security policy, says eminent Japanese scholar Prof. Shinichi Kitaoka.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) faces its first crucial test, after it captured power in August last year, when the House of Councillors election takes place on 11 July. The outcome of the election will have a great impact on the effectiveness of new Prime Minister Mr.Naoto Kan.

While New Delhi’s desire to cultivate closer defense ties with Tokyo is clear, its overall strategic approach is much less so.

The recent decision by the government of Naoto Kan to denuclearise Japan by 2050, regardless of its naivete, has certain traits that could help in overhauling the political economy of Japan's energy sector.

Japanese ODA has eased the burden of borrowing in the Indian market. Moreover, with the Japanese economy still struggling to induce growth, investments in India offer an avenue to earn interest income. Increased Japanese FDI is also likely to give a huge boost to the Indian economy.

A delegation of Japanese intellectuals under the leadership of Mr. Yamamoto Tadashi, President, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), a leading independent and non-profit Think Tank in Japan, visited ORF on 23 November, 2007

From the beginning of the 21st century, India's foreign policy got a strategic orientation. Until then, it lacked coherence due to the absence of an overall plan or document stating the foreign policy objectives, says Professor Takenori Horimoto of The Open University of Japan.

Japanese and Indian foreign ministers, Mr Fumio Kishida and Ms. Sushma Swaraj, have now agreed to hold a meeting at an earlier date this year that would allow the foreign ministers of India, Japan and the US to conduct talks. This positive move will contribute significantly to creating stability in the Indo-Pacific.

The expanding engagement with the Japanese navy, one of the strongest in the world, should give a boost to India's maritime diplomacy in Asia. If New Delhi's interests in the Pacific are growing, Tokyo's naval profile in the Indian Ocean has begun to expand.

As the COVID-19 pandemic gets more complicated, Prime Minister Suga finds himself in a difficult dilemma struggling to strike a practical balance bet

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent visit to India marks one more significant thrust to further strengthening Japan-India relations in areas like economic aid, trade and investment and clarifying their position in areas where a full meeting of minds has still not been achieved.

Japan’s commitment to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and its assessment of the changing global strategic environment have driven Tokyo to a new path-b

The strategic shift in Japan’s NSS has been met with criticism from China and the Korean peninsula

A detailed study of Japan's role in the peace settlement of the Cambodian issue is important as it was one of the earliest political efforts made by Tokyo in a region which had been known for its antipathy to Japan due to the strong historical memories of the Second World War. Southeast Asia posed one of the most serious challenges to Japan's post-war diplomacy which had to wrestle not only with the bitter legacies of the war, but also with the r

Despite domestic political changes, the alliance with the US continues to be the cornerstone of Japan's security policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Although Japan has taken some siginificant steps in the direction of normal statehood, the domestic constituency in favour of full strategic autonomy is still very weak. Japan's dilemma between its growing security concerns and the limitations laid by its Constitution will continue to be a major chall

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, just after the withdrawal of US-led troops, will have ramifications in Japan’s activities in the region. Since 2001, Japan has provided 759 billion yen (USD6.9 billion) to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. This, despite the fact that Japan does not share geographical proximity with Afghanistan and therefore has no direct strategic interests in the country. To be sure, Japan’s partners s

If someone in Sri Lanka thought that the jail-term handed down to Jayalalithaa, until then the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, would ease avoidable political tensions across the Palk Strait, they should be sadly mistaken.

The four characteristics of the "strong Chief Minister" today - authoritarianism, constitutional subregionalism, a "business-friendly" approach, and political welfarism - were first combined into a coherent whole by Jayalalithaa

Whilst Jeb Bush, belonging to a family with two former US Presidents, still hasn't won the primaries, he has managed to conjure a lot of enthusiasm around his candidacy. Even though he has not emerged as the favourite of the GOP's large block of more moderate supporters, junior Bush is often been called the front-runner.

China is more than likely to consolidate its hold in Nepal and become more assertive in the near future. The growing anti-India sentiments in the Himalayan state could make it easier for China to stay put in India's neighbourhood.

Pakistan has been using Jihad as a grand strategy for various reasons but primarily to influence events in its immediate neighbourhood, according to Dr Paul Kapur of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

As I was driven into the heart of Jakarta from its international airport, I could hardly believe I was in the capital of a Muslim country, with the world's largest Muslim population. I noticed very few external signs of the Islamic character of the country in the form of mosques, calls to prayers over powerful loudspeakers, quotations from the Holy Koran written on the walls, men with beard and a white cap and women with their heads covered .

The explosions of October 1, 2005, in the predominantly Hindu-inhabited tourist resort island of Bali in Indonesia came on the eve of two important religious observances¿¿on the eve of the Dusserah (called Galungan in Bali) festival, which the Hindus all over the world observe as marking the triumph of good over evil and the Muslim holy fasting period of Ramadan.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, India, Israel, South-East Asia, Russia and the USA would be the main theatres of jihadi terrorism of a strategic nature during the year 2005.There could be sporadic incidents of jihadi terrorism in other parts of the world¿¿such as West Europe and the Central Asian Republics¿¿but they would be more of a tactical than of a strategic nature.

Iraq continues to be the main hub of jihadi terrorism, with a very high level of suicide terrorism indicating that there has been no weakening in the morale and motivation of the terrorists and resistance fighters. Nor has there been any noticeable improvement in the intelligence-collection capability of the US-led coalition despite periodic claims of capture of terrorists of various hues. In an insurgency-cum-terrorism affected situation,

While there is no information about the linkage between the ISIS and the established Jihadi terror groups of Pakistan like LeT and the JuD, it is bound to happen sooner or later. India should be prepared to face this new onslaught.

Jihad, as it is not known today, is not guided by any specific logic, and it is not meant to achieve any political objectives', said Dr. Faisal Fatehali Devji, Professor of History at Yale University, while making a presentation on 'Jihadism', at Observer Research Foundation, on August 24, 2004.

It was sad enough to see anchors across all channels celebrate four medals (not one gold) but it was downright embarrassing having prime time TV blaring the hollow chant: "Tricolor will cover the skies over London".

India’s leap into the services and IT sector without first going through the appropriate growth models and methods of educating and skilling its ent

The unemployment rate is now around 10.1 per cent in the rural areas and 9.4 per cent across the nation. This means that around 40 to 50 million youth are without jobs. Unless they are given proper training, and higher education, they will not be fit to join the service sector or the manufacturing sector.

In industrial countries , with several times higher per capita incomes than India, an 'unemployment benefit' or dole is given to unemployed citizens. In India, the unemployed are supposed to fall back on their own means for survival. The Employment Guarantee Scheme Act that has been introduced in the Parliament recently is meant to address the basic human need for a job ( though it may be only for 100 days).

As the Biden administration would take time to settle down, the first half of 2021 will be crucial for Beijing to lay down new terms of engagement. It is shaping the battleground before Biden can come up with his own strategic response.

There is no real incentive for the Taliban to concede on any issue given that Washington's best bargaining chip—its military prowess—is now off the table.

While the unified structure being adopted by China will lead to the strengthening of its military prowess to back up the country's global ambitions, in India, political waffling has so far prevented the emergence of a similar combined structure for its armed forces.