South Asia Monitor: India-Japan Relations: A Partnership for Peace and Prosperity - October 1, 2009

October 1, 2009

In 1949, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated an Indian elephant named Indira to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. He hoped that Indira would bring joy into the lives of Japanese children, still suffering from the aftermath of World War II. That gesture is typical of the exchanges between these two Asian nations. Because India's and Japan's relationship faces no structural impediments, their interactions are generally marked by goodwill. From 2000 on, the two countries have come closer together, and their ties have expanded beyond economics to security. A close India-Japan link could affect the strategic configuration of Asia, provided the two countries overcome the bureaucratic and political factors that still inhibit their relationship.