Is Japan Ready for the Quad? Opportunities and Challenges for Tokyo in a Changing Indo-Pacific

In Japan

On Aug. 22, 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke in front of the Indian Parliament and articulated a vision for the Indo-Pacific region. He spoke of a “confluence of the two seas,” seeking to draw a strategic link between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Abe posited that Japan and India had a shared responsibility, as maritime nations located at the opposite edges of the “two seas,” to ensure the maintenance of peace and prosperity anchored by democratic principles.

Ten years later, diplomats from Australia, India, Japan, and the United States met in Manila for an exploratory meeting of the Australia-India-Japan-U.S. Consultation on the Indo-Pacific, more commonly known as the Quad. The officials discussed the prospects for cooperation in such areas as upholding the international order based on rules like freedom of navigation and overflight, respect for international law, peaceful resolution of disputes, increasing connectivity, counter-terrorism, maritime security, and North Korea’s nuclear and missile program.

This article was originally published by War on the Rocks on January 9, 2018. Read the full article here.

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