ASIA'S AND SOUTH ASIA'S TWO BIGGEST DEMOCRACIES GET CLOSER

BBC:

Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi has met his Indian counterpart in Delhi, with both supporting each other's claim for a permanent UN Security Council seat. Mr Koizumi and Manmohan Singh signed a joint statement with an eight-point agenda for improved relations. Apart from the UN issue, it called for a high-level strategic dialogue and measures to improve economic ties. [...] The joint statement said India and Japan would "strive to develop closer dialogue and collaboration to secure peace, stability and prosperity in Asia". It said the nations' navies would increase cooperation in Asian waters and the countries would hold annual prime minister-level meetings. It also said the nations vowed to bolster bilateral trade, which has been around $4bn a year for several years.

Ties between the two countries have warmed considerably since India's nuclear tests in May 1998, which led to Japanese sanctions on India. The sanctions were lifted in 2001. Since then India has become the largest recipient of development loans from Japan, outranking Indonesia and China.

This is VERY goods news for us - as this helps us counter China and Pakistan. Previous posts on the HUGE strategic value of India (to the USA) versus the undependability of Pakistan and the increasingly hefty hegemony of totalitarian China HERE and HERE.