
Asia Times: The hype behind India's Japan ties
Addressing an Asian Security conference at New Delhi in January, Indian Defense Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said "Today Indo-Japanese relations also have a strategic importance, which is quite obvious when we glance at the world atlas...There is a growing acceptance that India and Japan share a certain affinity on a number of issues. India and Japan have a convergence on energy issues and have joint concerns about the security of sea lines of communications and vital choke points in the Indian Ocean. We also share similar concerns about WMD proliferation. Concerns about WMD terrorism are also equally shared. India and Japan also have views about the restructuring of the UN and the Security Council in particular."...more...