Indo-Japanese Relation a Need of the Hour

Things you see in the rear view mirror are not very far.  The name Radha Gobind Pal is not old enough to be forgotten by the Japanese at least. In fact they revere him more than any Indian & have two shrines the Yasukuni Shrine and the Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine with busts  specially dedicated to Judge Radha Gobind Pal.  Ryōma and his associate Nakaoka Shintarō  the national heros of the Mieji Restoration who dreamt of an independent Japan without feudal trappings  are also given a place of honour in these shrines. Judge Pal was one of the Asian judges appointed to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the "Tokyo Trials" of Japanese war crimes committed during the Second World War. Among all the judges of the tribunal, he was the only one who submitted a judgment which insisted all defendants were not guilty; Judge Pal never intended to offer a juridical argument on whether a sentence of not guilty would have been a correct one. However, he argued that the United States had clearly provoked the war with Japan and expected Japan to act. On 14 December 2006, Manmohan  Singh the PM of India, made a speech in the Japanese Diet stating  “The principled judgment of Judge Radhabinod Pal after the War is remembered even today in Japan. Ladies and Gentlemen, these events reflect the depth of our friendship and the fact that we have stood by each other at critical moments in our history”.

The two nations are once again working on kindling the fire of friendship with development of economic, financial, industrial and cultural sinews.  India’s regional policy will get a shot in the arm with the help from a highly developed country helping it steer its manufacturing revolution and providing hi-tech solution to its defence problems.

 As East Asia forsees changes in the regional order due to distractions in US policy towards security gurantee  to Japan, that started from the Obama era; which allowed China to establish itself in South China Sea; Japan is getting uneasy. In fact, the recent launch of a missile by North Korea over Japanese island of Hikkaido has not drawn reactions from USA which can be called strong enough for deterrence and the fact that China accounts for 90% of North Korean imports is making Japan uneasy.  It has begun to wonder that it has to face the twin challenge of North  Korea & China all alone. China has begun to alter status quo in South China Sea by constructing islands on low tide elevations, these islands will be used as military base in future. China claims that it has ‘indisputable sovereignty’ over the land features and waters involved in the South China Sea. It refuses to be bound by the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ) tribunal’s anticipated decision on the grounds that the decision will necessarily deal with issues of territorial sovereignty (who owns which disputed islands) and maritime delimitation (how conflicting national water boundary claims should be resolved) and that China has never consented to any third party impartial arbitration of these issues. Both India & Japan use the sea lanes that pass through that region.  

In Doklam, China preferred to change the status quo by consolidating their position in a region crucial for Indian defence posture. On August 28, 2017, it was announced that India and China have mutually agreed to a speedy disengagement on the Doklam plateau bringing to an end a military face-off that lasted for close to three months. Chinese foreign ministry sidestepped the question of whether China would continue the road construction. The CPEC corridor through disputed POK is already a threat to India. Sovereignty over two separate pieces of Indian territory has been contested by China in Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh. The McMahon Line which was part of the 1914 Simla Convention between British India and Tibet, has been rejected by China. Though India’s maturity and diplomatic stance helped in resolving  the Doklam  issue, but the uncertainty still exists till the next time when the status quo will be tampered again by China in some other sector. Down south Chinese presence in Srilanka (Hambantota) is now real and how far it will effect India’s maritime endeavor in times to come is anyone’s guess.

Abe was  here to rekindle the fire of friendship between Japan & India  and strengthen the coalition against a common challenge. Japan is keen to expand infrastructure projects  amid China’s OBOR initiative and, along with India, it is exploring opportunities to develop projects in ASEAN. This is part of Indo-Japan corridor  for the Indo-Pacific region that also extends to Eastern Africa under Asia Africa Growth Corridor, an initiative that would provide an alternative to OBOR, which is being implemented in a non-transparent fashion dictated by China’s interests.  Only  close cooperation between the two nations;  in commerce , cultural and defence  will help improve the trust and tide over  common challenges and drive forward, while looking in the rearview mirror.

Ex Servicemen a Force Underutilized

With reference to the article which appeared in a national daily regarding the grave shortage of Welfare officers in nearly seventy percent districts of a leading state (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/severe-shortage-of-sainik-welfare-officers-hits-ex-servicemen-hard/articleshow/60359799.cms), it only undermines the use of a potent trained force available to the nation. Why at all do these important seats keep lying vacant in a State Government’s important department. The first and major cause that comes to one’s mind is the lack of pride in the post. An officer who has been a class one Gazetted officer; on retirement does not expect to be placed in a hierarchical post lower to the one he/she last held. In a state that has no dearth of retired   Military officers, such apathy is uncalled for.

In India, defence personnel generally join the armed forces in their late teens or in their early 20s and retire from service between the ages 35 and 48. When they retire, they are still fit for another job. Year on year the Military releases lakhs of exservicemen(ESM), at a young age with pensioner benefits. They rummage for a suitable employment in the Civvy Street and most of them finally settle into a cozy pensioners life at such an early age that even their near and dear ones ‘wonder how’! Most of these ESM are highly motivated lot and come with a skill set which can be put to use in National Development. They do not want to be a burden on the finances of the nation but need to be put to use as a positive human resource with a Star Quality called HONESTY.

There are Govt and quasi Govt agencies which do help the Exservicemen in addressing their needs for training, employment assistance and provision of soft loans to start a venture on their own. More often than not this help does not yield the desired results although there are exceptional cases where ESM have setup clusters with the help of Small And Medium Enterprise Department and have even setup Cooperative banks in semi urban areas. A number of them also get employed in police force or security agencies, or start their own. But the ratio of fruitfully employed ESM to the ones otherwise is very dismal.

What is more alarming is that the force which comes from rural core of the nation does not return to their roots in nearly half the cases. This is due to their raised aspiration levels and the changed lifestyles of the family; add to that the educational requirements of the next generation. If properly channelized the young pensioners can be the harbingers of sustainable development in the rural areas of the country.

The use of ESM in establishment of PURA( Provision of Urban Resources in Rural Areas), a dream that Dr Kalam dreamt, cannot be overlooked. This will result in  providing employment opportunities that lasts a life time. If a person is employed, he/she has access to good education, health, electronic media and other facilities for his growth. An ESM is a responsible citizen who needs to be included as a cog in the wheel to development. Making Dr Kalam’s dream a reality is no easy task but motivating the ESM to return to their roots by providing them suitable employments that gives them self-pride will help positively to resuscitate the hinterland.