External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna paid a four-day visit to Japan in the first week of July. The new foreign minister participated in the third Annual Bilateral Strategic Dialogue between India and Japan and held discussions on a range of topics having bilateral and global interest, including disarmament and climate change, with his counterpart in Japan Hirofumi Nakasone and other leaders.

In the meetings, India and Japan agreed to sustain and possibly expand their “Canvas of Cooperation” in the bilateral and international domains. The Foreign Ministers chaired the third round of the Japan-India strategic dialogue in Tokyo and discussed how to carry forward the momentum already generated by their existing “strategic and global partnership.”

Though no timeline has been fixed for the finalisation of an overarching “comprehensive economic partnership agreement,” the two sides emphasised the need for “a high-quality and mutually beneficial accord.”

Freight Corridor

The two ministers agreed to “work together actively” for the accomplishment of a dedicated freight corridor project in India and the “early realisation of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project.” Bilateral collaboration for the Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad was also confirmed.

The two countries have already issued a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, which the Ministers discussed for follow-up measures and “action plans.” A bilateral dialogue on maritime security, including anti-pirate cooperation would be kickstarted soon.

Nuclear issues

There was “a meeting of minds” on the issue of worldwide nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Mr. Nakasone appreciated India’s ongoing observance of a voluntary moratorium on nuclear-weapon tests and hoped that India would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and ratify it. Referring to Japan’s benchmarks for disarmament and non-proliferation, the Japanese minister called for cooperation with India for an early start of multilateral negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty.

After the talks, Mr. Krishna said that he assured Japan of India’s “constructive” participation in nuclear disarmament talks. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to “a universal, non-discriminatory, and verifiable regime for a nuclear weapons-free world.”

The Indian foreign minister called on Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and held talks with prominent Opposition leaders.

Climate Change

The Japanese Foreign Minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, urged India to play an active role in combating global warming and climate change. At the joint press conference in Tokyo with the Indian Foreign Minister, Mr. Nakasone said India should “exercise more leadership in a positive way with deeper perspective”.

SM Krishna responded by saying that any deal to combat global warming must be fair for emerging nations. They are to be ‘ambitious and equitable”. But he agreed that climate change is an important global challenge.

Mr. Nakasone, after his talks with Mr. Krishna said, “we shared the view that we should step up our bilateral dialogue on climate issue.” The Indian foreign minister stressed the need for an ambitious and equitable outcome at the Copenhagen international climate conference later this year. He said any international climate change agreement must ensure that developing countries have to “continue their economic growth at an accelerated pace”.

The December summit in Copenhagen is intended to secure a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire in 2012. India - like China - has refused to commit on emission cuts in the new treaty until developed nations, particularly the US also come on board to meet the climate change targets.

Japan has announced (in June) that it hoped to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 8 percent from 1990 levels by end of the next decade. But that target has been described as too little, too late by environmentalists. Krishna’s visit is the first to Japan by an Indian minister after the new government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was sworn in.

New Chancery

Earlier, Krishna inaugurated a new chancery building of the Indian Embassy where a cultural centre will serve as a base for Indians and Japanese for further strengthening the ties.

The minister also visited the Asakusa Shrine in the city known as Sanja-sama (shrine of the three Gods), which is one of the most famous Shinto shrines of Tokyo located in Asakusa and honours the three men who founded the Senso-ji.

During his visit, Krishna interacted with people of Indian origin in Japan and paid rich tributes to the Indian diaspora for their contributions in building ‘new bridges’ between the two countries.

“Your (Indian community living in Japan) contribution to sharing dynamism of the new India which is emerging today is equally noteworthy. As you help to build new bridges between India and Japan. I am confident that you will do so with diligence, creativity, enterprise that has become the hallmark of the Indian diaspora all over the world,” said Krishna.