US-Japan-India Relations: Prospects and Challenges

Japan-India relations have traditionally been strong since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1952, particularly so since the beginning of India’s “Look East” policy in the 1990s. Strong bilateral trade and aid relations have expanded toward security-based relations alongside the declaration of the Japan-India Global and Strategic Partnership in 2006. In 2013, the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited India, followed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014, signaling Japan’s intentions to further strengthen the relationship. India’s newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Tokyo in August.

Both India and Japan are looking to increase their presence in the Asia-Pacific, alongside the United States. Concerns regarding China’s intentions in the region have led to strengthened trilateral cooperation, but none of these countries wish to threaten China with the developing partnership. Rather, policy and security coordination between these three countries can benefit the entire Asia-Pacific region.

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A transcript and summary of the event is also available.

Takaaki Asano is a research fellow with the Tokyo Foundation. His general area of expertise is Japanese foreign/national security policy and international trade policy. Previously, he was policy research manager at Japan Association of Corporate Executives (JACE or Keizai Doyukai), an influential business organization in Japan, where he was responsible for JACE’s international programs and edited various policy proposals. Prior to joining JACE, he was the senior research analyst at the Washington, DC, Representative Office of the Development Bank of Japan, where he authored policy reports on a wide range of issues from politics to financial/economic policy. He earned his B.A. in sociology from University of Tokyo, and received his M.A. in international relations from New York University.

Dr. Satu Limaye was named director of the East-West Center in Washington in February 2007. He is the creator and director of the Asia Matters for America initiative, an interactive resource for credible, non-partisan information, graphics, analysis and news on US-Asia Pacific relations and the national, state and local levels; founding editor of the Asia-Pacific Bulletin series, an editor of the journal Global Asia, and on the international advisory council of the journal Contemporary Southeast Asia. Limaye publishes and speaks on US-Asia relations and is a reviewer for numerous publications, foundations and fellowship programs. From October 2005 to February 2007 he was a research staff member of the Strategy and Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and from July 1998 to October 2005 he was director of research and publications at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), a direct reporting unit of US Pacific Command. He has been an Abe Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and a Henry Luce Scholar and Research Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) in Tokyo. He is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College), where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar.

Yuki Tatsumi (moderator) was appointed senior associate of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center in September 2008 after serving as a research fellow since 2004. Before joining Stimson, Tatsumi worked as a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as the special assistant for political affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC. In September 2006 Tatsumi testified before the House Committee on International Relations. She is a recipient of the 2009 Yasuhiro Nakasone Incentive Award. In 2012 she was awarded the Letter of Appreciation from the Ministry of National Policy of Japan for her contribution in advancing mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. A native of Tokyo, Tatsumi holds a B.A. in liberal arts from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan and an M.A. in international economics and Asian studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.  

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