India at centre of Japan’s Indo-Pacific policy: Envoy

New Delhi : Stating that the focus on strategic issues is shifting from the Pacific Ocean to India and the Indian Ocean, Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu has said that his country has placed India at the centre of its Indo-Pacific policy.

“The geopolitics of Asia is dynamically changing. We used to discuss strategic issues with a focus on the Pacific Ocean, but that focus has shifted to India and the Indian Ocean.” Hiramatsu said while speaking on “Japan’s Perspective of the Changing Geopolitics of Asia” as part of the Changing Asia Lecture Series organised by the Society of Policy Studies think tank and the India Habitat Centre here on Friday evening, reports IANS.

“We are now having strategic discussions on this region, stretching from Asia to the African Continent. We place India right in the middle of this geopolitical dynamics,” he said.

Stating that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in September this year was “unprecedented and special”, he said that bilateral relations “are at its best ever, and substantial dialogues are being held at all level”.

Explaining why Japan considers India as its key partner, Hiramatsu said that both countries shared values such as democracy, openness, and the rule of the law.

Stating that Japan attached great importance to upholding the rule of law, he said Tokyo found India’s adherence to this in the international arena “worthy of admiration”.

“You can see this from India’s compliance with an arbitral decision regarding a sea boundary dispute with Bangladesh that was not necessarily in India’s favour,” the ambassador said.