Bullet Trains and Bastions - #Japan and #India Come Together #Doklam

original image @ Global Times

The alliance between India and Japan offers economic and security benefits to both nations. Enough to have Beijing grousing

'How India and Japan rattled China with Act northeast policy' DailyO 17 Sept Beijing's goal in South Asia is economic hegemony via CPEC to offset home debt and bolster food and border security. That makes Japan's infrastructure push in India all the more upsetting (link)

'India, Japan and Africa' Economic Times 16 Sept The Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) will provide the two nations with a means to counterbalance the Belt and Road Initiative while enhancing security ties. India provides "historical connections, maritime contiguity, and the large presence of an Indian diaspora." Japan provides capital and technology (link)

'Growing India, Japan ties irk China' Sunday Guardian 16 Sept 'Abe’s visit is a testimony to the fact China’s economic and military rise is bound to coalesce some of its neighbours against China. And this will happen regardless of the cultural impediments, ideological fixations and political hesitations in these countries. Japan as the only East Asian country with both the interest and the power to construct a regional balance of power to counter Chinese domination in the region, currently faces security challenges from both China and North Korea... Thus, any move that lends a hand to an increase in Japanese power is good for India' (link)

'The lesson from Doklam: Peace is the dividend of power' Hindustan Times 16 Sept 'India and Japan must together provide the fulcrum for a broader regional coalition towards a “pragmatic equation” with China to meet hegemonistic designs of any nation in the region' (link)