A few years after World War II, in 1949, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated two elephants to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The gesture was soon followed up with massive iron ore exports, that helped Japan rebuild its war-devastated economy.
However, things haven’t been smooth between the two nations as the world moved on. The bilateral relations touched a nadir immediately after Pokharan II in 1998. The only nation that bore the brunt of atomic bombs couldn’t just carry on with another, who, then seemed hell-bent on walking the fission talk.
Well, that was then. Today, Japan Inc is fast rediscovering the potential of the Indian market as it faces an internal slowdown and a looming China. The number of Japanese companies operating in India have increased from 231 in August, 2003 to 328 in January, 2006. Bilateral trade touched $6.8 billion in 2005 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo next week, is expected to boost trade ties further and push it to touch $10 billion. Even Indian IT companies are looking at the Japanese market.
Ryoichi Horie, deputy chief of mission of Embassy of Japan in New Delhi, feels that the Japanese presence in India is much more than what is reflected in trade figures. “Many top Japanese companies have manufacturing hubs in Asean countries, but their products are sold in India. It’s more a multilateral business. But now, many Japanese companies are willing to set up their own manufacturing base in India. We are also encouraging exchanges at provincial level too.”
For most Indians, the bond with Japan and Japanese goods has remained fresh. On one hand, it’s the market forces ( read chemistry between Indian and Japanese companies) of Maruti-Suzuki, Hero-Honda and Toyota-Kirloskar, along with the huge spread of household brands like Sony and Fujifilm across the country. Then came Delhi Metro, Buddhist tourist circuits etc. ,which are results of Japanese ODA (Official Development Assistance) worth over Rs 5,000 crore per year.
In fact, India and Japan are in sync with the rhythms of globalisation. The Chinese bogey will help both the Asian countries bond their relations better. Anti-Japanese nationalism is intrinsically linked to political self-expression in China. Just type the words ‘Boycott Japanese products in China,’ in Google — it gives as high as seven lakhs pages!
“It’s not all about strategic or economic relations. Japan and India share common values and ethics. We can’t ignore the fact that both are vibrant democracies in Asia,” says noted defence strategist C Uday Bhaskar.
However, things haven’t been smooth between the two nations as the world moved on. The bilateral relations touched a nadir immediately after Pokharan II in 1998. The only nation that bore the brunt of atomic bombs couldn’t just carry on with another, who, then seemed hell-bent on walking the fission talk.
Well, that was then. Today, Japan Inc is fast rediscovering the potential of the Indian market as it faces an internal slowdown and a looming China. The number of Japanese companies operating in India have increased from 231 in August, 2003 to 328 in January, 2006. Bilateral trade touched $6.8 billion in 2005 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo next week, is expected to boost trade ties further and push it to touch $10 billion. Even Indian IT companies are looking at the Japanese market.
Ryoichi Horie, deputy chief of mission of Embassy of Japan in New Delhi, feels that the Japanese presence in India is much more than what is reflected in trade figures. “Many top Japanese companies have manufacturing hubs in Asean countries, but their products are sold in India. It’s more a multilateral business. But now, many Japanese companies are willing to set up their own manufacturing base in India. We are also encouraging exchanges at provincial level too.”
For most Indians, the bond with Japan and Japanese goods has remained fresh. On one hand, it’s the market forces ( read chemistry between Indian and Japanese companies) of Maruti-Suzuki, Hero-Honda and Toyota-Kirloskar, along with the huge spread of household brands like Sony and Fujifilm across the country. Then came Delhi Metro, Buddhist tourist circuits etc. ,which are results of Japanese ODA (Official Development Assistance) worth over Rs 5,000 crore per year.
In fact, India and Japan are in sync with the rhythms of globalisation. The Chinese bogey will help both the Asian countries bond their relations better. Anti-Japanese nationalism is intrinsically linked to political self-expression in China. Just type the words ‘Boycott Japanese products in China,’ in Google — it gives as high as seven lakhs pages!
“It’s not all about strategic or economic relations. Japan and India share common values and ethics. We can’t ignore the fact that both are vibrant democracies in Asia,” says noted defence strategist C Uday Bhaskar.
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