Participating in a discussion on “US-Japan Alliance: Implications of the Rise of China and India” at Observer Research Foundation, former Indian Ambassador to Japan Hemant Krishan Singh said India was of the view that a strong Japan would play a positive role in maintaining the strategic balance in the region.

The former Indian ambassador also noted that India’s role in East Asia as good for the region as it could play a “positive balancer”.

Initiating the discussion, Dr Sheila A Smith of the Council on Foreign Relations said the rise of China and India has raised concerns in Tokyo and Washington about their competitiveness.

Dr Smith, a well known expert on Japan affairs, noted that Japan’s “strategic discomfort” has been growing in the recent years in the context of the changes unfolding in East Asia, particularly, with the rise of China.

Chairing the discussion the Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, Prof KV Kesavan pointed that the US-Japan alliance as a product of the Cold War period and that the two countries have been making necessary changes to adjust to the changing situation.

The discussion noted that the decades-old US-Japan alliance has also come under strain with the structural shifts taking place in the region. In this context, the alliance between Washington and Tokyo is today adapting to the changing realities.

Indian strategist, Prof C Raja Mohan of the Centre for Policy Research observed that India has been slowly adapting to the changes in the international politics and is today willing to play a more active role in the strategic issues.

Prof Raja Mohan, however, questioned how far Washington and Tokyo would like to take India into confidence in taking this trilateral relationship forward.