India-Japan

India-Japan

Jan 2014 

Japan PM Shinzo Abe  visited India during 25-27 Jan 2014 and was chief guest during republic day parade.

• The two countries signed eight pacts, of which half were connected with Japanese aid, thus indicating that soft loans and outright grants will continue to remain an integral component of Tokyo’s strategy of reaching out to New Delhi. 
• Mr. Abe held out the promise of more aid, of which 70 per cent will go for implementing phase-III of the Delhi Metro project.
• On the defence side, the two countries decided to make joint naval exercises a permanent feature and India, despite the experience of 2007, invited Japan to join the Indo-U.S Malabar series. Seven years ago, the presence of Japan and Australia in the Malabar series fuelled protests at home and from China leading to the dropping of the duo from subsequent chapters.
• The Prime Ministers reviewed the progress made in selling hi-tech US-2 amphibious aircraft to India, with government sources saying final plans envisaged a transfer of a substantial number of such planes. This is the first time Japan is offering to sell a plane which has military uses as well.
• Within two months, we have received from Japan, first that rare, and symbolically greatest, gesture, the visit of Their Imperial Majesties, then the Defence Minister’s, and now, the Premier’s.
• Japan invited to develop India's NE particularly in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is disputed almost in its entirety by China
• Japan also lowered non-tariff barriers to import of shrimps that will help Indian

China-Japan Relation

Senkakau/Diayou

Conflicts : 

Senkakau / Diayou Island Conflict in East China Sea : 

• There is raging dispute between China and Japan over the sovereignty of Senkakau(Japan) / Diayou(China) islands arise in september 2012.
• China claims sovereignty over the uninhabited islands, while Japan has the administrative control over them.
• Senkakau is a located in East China Sea consisting of group of islands having 5 inhabited and 3 barren rocks island.
• Aside from a 1945 to 1972 period of administration by the United States, the archipelago has been controlled by Japan since 1895. The People's Republic of China (PRC) disputed the proposed US handover of authority to Japan in 1971 and has

East China Sea Conflcit

Setting up of ADIZ by China 

China announced to set up an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the Senkakau / Diayou islands in East China Sea and notified that Airlines passing by should give prior information to Chinese authorities.Non-compliance to this can result in "emergency defensive measures" i.e military measures.

Aftermath 

Raised tensions in East China sea region where there is raging dispute between China and Japan over the sovereignty of Senkakau / Diayou islands.China claims sovereignty over the uninhabited islands, while Japan has the administrative control over them. The South

Japan

• Japan today is in a very different situation, with two decades of economic malaise, a shrinking, aging population, frighteningly high levels of government debt, a major nuclear disaster to its north, and tense relations with its neighbors.
• In a vote in Buenos Aires this weekend, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has granted Tokyo the right to hold the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
• On the final day of trading 2013, Japanese shares closed with an annual gain of 57 percent  the highest ever since 1972. That this occurred this year is no coincidence – Shinzo Abe’s three-pronged strategy for Japan’s economy dubbed “Abenomics” is working.

Boeing Dreamliner 787

• The US and Japan have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts due to concerns over it battery safety.
• Recently, a battery-fault warning on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner in Japan forced an emergency landing.
• Lithium Batteries
• Although all air-planes have batteries, but the Dreamliner requires powerful batteries because Dreamliner’s control systems are driven entirely by electrical signals in place of the hydraulic controls found in traditional generations of jets
• Boeing depends in part on lithium-ion batteries, which provide quick and powerful charges. Designers needed something which is light in weight and at the same time gives high power output. So, they opted for Lithium-ion technology batteries which have an unusually high energy density
• Lithium-ion technology is the same technology that we see in in the batteries of most modern smartphones and laptop computers, where the demands are rather similar, but on a much smaller scale.
• Another big advantage of using Lithium-ion units: These can be moulded into a variety of shapes
• Airbus A380 superjumbo also uses the same technology
• Disadvantage
• Lithium-ion batteries require more careful management than other types of battery due to the ‘Thermal Runaway problem’.(smoking and catching fire)
• Also these batteries are Vulnerable to problems and leaks of battery fluid. When the problem of leakage starts, the fuel can in turn ignite automatically. 

Japan

• Largest importer of earth rare metals.

India and Japan

• India and Japan  inked a strategic agreement that will allow Japan to import rare earth minerals from India.  
• Joint venture : Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp. and India’s state-run Indian Rare Earths Ltd.
• The 3 projects that Japan is backing are:
• Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) 
• Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) 
• Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) 
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