CUTS International Washington DC Center
Monthly Brief #60, March 2023
Kishida Builds on the Foundation Laid by Abe
 
Following the footsteps of his predecessor Shinzo Abe, the incumbent Japanese PM unveiled a new Indo-Pacific Strategy. And he chose New Delhi for its grand unveiling.
 
With the unveiling of a new Indo-Pacific strategy, Fumio Kishida wants India to play a bigger role in the Indo-Pacific and calls India an indispensable partner in the Indo-Pacific.
 
Kishida was on a brief visit to India on March 20, where he articulated a grand role for India in the Indo-Pacific region. The focus of his brief visit was strengthening the strategic and global partnership with India.
 
Though this visit had many highs, there were some lows as well. The highlight of his visit was his willingness to explore the unexploited economic potential of the northeastern part of India. He mentioned that he would like to enhance the activity in the northeastern region of the country and reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to development projects in this region, through the Japan-India Act East Forum.
 
Furthermore, he mentioned that the next horizon is South Asia including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other southern economic zones. Here, Japan would promote the Bay of Bengal-Northeast India industrial value chain. This would foster the growth of the entire region.
 
Additionally, he stressed on continued cooperation on energy, decarbonisation and the loan of a 300-billion-yen high-speed railway project among others. There were discussions on the importance of a reliable supply chain of semiconductors and other critical technologies, which should be fruitful.
 
Despite cooperation in many areas and a number of defence exercises together, more attention is needed to the co-production and co-manufacturing of defence equipment. Currently, it seems Japan lacks enthusiasm for the sale of defence products to India. And not much has been done in joint R&D in this sector as well.
 
Another lowlight of the meeting was no conducive action agenda on the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) between the two. In this regard, the only exception is the automobile sector.
 
On this very same day – there was another news-worthy meet that was taking place in Moscow between Putin and Xi Jinping. India and Japan have had somewhat divergent opinions about condemning Russia but both follow “It’s not an era of war” expounded by the Indian PM, Narendra Modi.
 
Nonetheless, Delhi and Tokyo share a comprehensive economic partnership. Japan remains a major investor in India and is looking to set up more joint industrial townships in order to promote economic partnership, investment and infrastructure growth.
 
Lastly, the Japanese PM was here to extend an invite to Modi for the G7 summit, scheduled to take place in Hiroshima in May, 2023. More so, Kishida would be returning this year for the G-20 meet in September. Upholding the rules-based world order and finding solutions to the challenges faced by the global community among strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas should be on the card when they meet again & again this year!
      
Pradeep S. Mehta
Editor

P.S.: Just like brokering a pact between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Can China broker another deal, a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine?
 
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Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo agree to launch India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on March 09, 2023 and agreed to launch a India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue, led by Foreign Secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs of India and Under Secretary, Bureau of Industry and Security in U.S. Department of Commerce. The Strategic Trade Dialogue will address export controls, explore ways of enhancing high technology commerce, and facilitate technology transfer between the two countries.

India-Australia agree to further enhance bilateral trade relations
India and Australia on March 12, 2023 acknowledged the significance of their trading relations, as bilateral trade exceeded US$31 billion during the last financial year. India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Australia's Trade Minister Donald Edward Farrell discussed implementation of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), negotiations for the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and further developing two-way investment.

Is free trade moribund in the U.S.?
For a long time, the U.S. was regarded as the citadel of free trade. This was best illustrated in the famous Radio Address to the Nation on “International Free Trade” by President Ronald Reagan on November 20, 1982, where he said categorically, “The U.S. took the lead after World War II in creating an international trading and financial system that limited governments’ ability to disrupt free trade across borders. We did this because history had taught us an important lesson: Free trade serves the cause of economic progress, and it serves the cause of world peace”.

India, U.S. need to be more ambitious on trade and investment front
Observing that India and the U.S. have been ambitious on the strategic and technology front, a diplomat-turned-corporate executive has asserted that now is the time for the two nations to be more ambitious in the area of trade and investment as well. Atul Keshap, President, U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) told Press Trust of India in an interview that, “I take great comfort in the fact that the U.S. and India are now not only Quad partners, they are also Indo-Pacific Economic Framework partners. I think both the governments ought to be ambitious about addressing investment and trade issues in order to have a greater opening up in both directions.”

 

India can achieve energy independence by 2047: U.S. study
India can achieve energy independence by 2047, when it celebrates 100 years of independence, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study titled “Pathways to Atmanirbhar Bharat” also notes India’s energy infrastructure needs an investment of US$3trillion in the coming decades. It determined that achieving energy independence will generate significant economic, environmental, and energy benefits for India which include US$2.5 trillion in consumer savings through 2047.

Australia India Trade Association hosts Renewable Energy Companies in India
Australia India Trade Association (AITA) hosted 20+ Australian clean energy companies that have arrived in India as part of the SMART energy council delegation headed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The delegates met with Shri Kanubhai Desai, Minster for Energy and Finance, Gujarat, in Gandhi Nagar. AITA hosted a “Doing business in India Seminar” on 11th March 2023 for delegates at ITC Maurya, Delhi. The seminar was presided by Shri Pankaj Mahendroo, Chairman (Indian cellular and electronics Association) and Shri Ajay Shankar IAS (Secretary, Dept of Industrial policy and promotion retd.).
 
India aspires to be among energy exporters, not importers
India aspires to be among energy exporters, not importers, said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, while speaking at News18 Network's flagship event 'Rising India Summit' on March 29, 2023. This flagship event, in partnership with Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd, will take place over two days at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. He said hydrogen bus will be ready in India very soon. We are number one in manufacturing electrolysers. We are exporting it to the U.S. as well.

India needs estimated US$900 billion for just energy transition
India needs an estimated US$900 billion for a just energy transition vis-a-vis coal mines and thermal power plants over the next 30 years, a report of independent non-profit environmental research and innovation organisation International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST) has said. India has set goals of net zero emissions by 2070 and energy independence by 2047. iFOREST said a framework for the just transition at the national and state levels is essential for it.

 

The Indo-Pacific’s defining relationship
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s first visit to India heralded an extraordinary strategic expansion in bilateral relations. Albanese developed close personal equations with prime minister Modi during this visit. It would be fair to predict that with Albanese visiting India again in the last quarter of the year, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Australia in May this year, 2023 would see extraordinary consolidation in the bilateral relationship.

Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meet 2023
The Foreign Ministers’ of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. met in New Delhi on March 03, 2023 for the Quadrilateral Group’s Foreign Ministers’ meet. The meet, which was presided by the Indian External Affairs Minister, announced the establishment of a Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in sharpening of the group’s focus to combat terror. Additionally, the meet reaffirmed the group’s steadfast commitment to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient. The Australian Foreign Minister praised India as a “critical, great power” and said the country’s civilisation prowess brought a fresh perspective on dealing with current issues. This edition of CUTS ONW collates news, op-eds and commentaries on this Foreign Ministers’ Meet.

Xi’s shadow on the Indo-Pacific
A series of recent developments suggests that we have rapidly gravitated towards a deeply divided world teetering on the brink of calamitous confrontation. History is repeating itself. A few days later, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India. Apart from extending an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 Summit in Japan, he announced an Indo Pacific development assistance initiative aimed at countering Beijing’s growing influence in the region.

India, France, Australia  plan to upgrade trilateral partnership
India, France and Australia are discussing raising their trilateral partnership to a leader's level grouping at an early opportunity. The trilateral partnership focused on maritime security, the blue economy and humanitarian relief efforts in the Indo-Pacific was unveiled in 2021. The first trilateral meeting took place at the officials’ level before being raised to the Foreign Minister’s level in May 2021.

 

Future technology needs for India - 2047
With the ever-growing advancements in technology and sciences globally, the tendency of man to expect and evolve even more through this very medium keeps climbing heights. Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds a lot of scope in the environment of India. We can anticipate our computers to think the way we do and perform tasks the way humans are expected to.  Services like speech recognition, problem-solving, planning, etc are already integral parts and are used widely by the Indians.

U.S.-China tech war is opening a big door for India, and we must take advantage
The tech noose around China is slowly being tightened, and Chinese companies have begun to feel the heat of this action by the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia. Chinese leaders have started to complain about this and warn the U.S. and European companies of severe consequences. From 5G equipment to semiconductor chips, Chinese companies are in the U.S. and European net on the allegations that they are stealing local data and transferring them to Chinese security agencies.

EU to form Technology Council with India
The European Union (EU) is planning to set up Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with India to facilitate the exchange of critical technologies related to various domains, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and semiconductors. Total three working groups are being established under the TTC. The first is on digital governance, strategic technologies, and digital connectivity.
 
India fast becoming big exporter of telecom technology
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22, 2023 said India is moving fast to become a big exporter of telecom technology from being only a user few years ago. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area Office and Innovation Centre here, Modi said India is one of countries to have rolled out 5G mobile technology at the fastest pace.

 

The Indian way for a secure earth
The world grapples with looming global stagflation, and India is among the handful of few who have the potential of thriving in this situation. This year further presses on geo-political, technological, economic and climate-related challenges. If India can overcome these challenges with a way forward for the world, then the prediction “this century belongs to Asia, and this year belongs to India” would certainly come true. For good work, India has been presented with two opportunities as platforms.

India’s approach to engagement with the Latin American Region
The Foreign Policy Research Centre (FPRC) interviewed Asia and Latin America Program Director Margaret Myers and Program Associate Steven Holmes on developments in India-Latin America relations. Both said that India has already worked over the years to facilitate the exchange of ideas with Latin American partner nations. This includes through a series of political and economically-based platforms, including the India Business Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean; nine editions of the India-LAC Conclave, which convenes just under 300 business people.

‘India fastest-growing major economy despite global challenges’, says PM Modi at summit with Biden
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 29, 2023 hailed India as the mother of democracy and said that the country had become the fastest growing major economy despite many global challenges. The Prime Minister was speaking at the Democracy Summit he was co-hosting with U.S. President Joe Biden. He also said that India's growing stance on economy was a proof of the fact that the democracy can deliver.
 
Japan plans NE push with India, B’desh
Representatives from Japanese businesses and multilateral institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, are slated to visit the Northeast in April to explore significant investments as part of a wider manufacturing push, according to people aware of the matter. The delegates will attend a conference to advance discussions around the “Bay of Bengal-Northeast Industrial Value Chain” (Paywall) in Agartala.