A week before a summit between India and Japan, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that it would add India and Bangladesh to a list of Asean countries to qualify for subsidies for Japanese manufacturers that are move from China. METI’s announcement comes days after India, Japan and Australia decided to advance cooperation to build reliable and resilient supply chains. Japanese Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe, the outgoing Japanese Prime Minister, will hold their last virtual summit on September 10. The two countries are expected to sign the ACSA (Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement) that will allow the military services of both countries to share logistics. . (India signed a similar pact with Australia in June.) It will be an appropriate note for Modi’s last meeting with Abe before the Japanese leader resigns given his sympathy and the great strides in bilateral cooperation taken during his tenures. The summit also comes at a time when both India and Japan are caught in separate tensions with China. In fact, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will be in Moscow that day, for a meeting of SCO foreign ministers, where he is expected to also meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. SCRI (Supply Chain Resilience Initiative) aims to build alternative supply chains. In a trilateral meeting with Australian and Japanese trade ministers on Wednesday, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said: “Diversification of the supply chain is critical to managing the risks associated with the supply of inputs, including discipline of the price volatility. We could provide the main avenue to link value chains in the region by creating a network of long-term reliable supplies and adequate capabilities. “The Japanese government’s announcement will shift India’s responsibility to attract Japanese companies seeking alternatives to China. Officials estimate that technology sectors such as IT-ITES, AI and IoT could reap benefits, as could chemicals and food processing. Japanese sources said Tokyo was waiting to see the steps India takes to make it easier for companies to Japanese invest here.
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