The idea of political cooperation among Asian democracies is expected to figure prominently in tomorrow’s formal talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Japanese leadership in Tokyo. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has made structured dialogue among major democracies like India, the US and Australia one of his big foreign policy ideas.

Asked about Abe’s proposal on the eve of his departure to Tokyo, Singh had told the Japanese media that he would like “to gain a better understanding about Prime Minister Abe’s idea of closer cooperation among major democracies in the region”.

While India has an open mind, there is a widespread misperception that Abe was seeking to exclude and isolate China. Abe has sought to dispel this view by making the restoration of normal relations with Beijing his highest diplomatic priority. Beijing was the first foreign destination for Abe after he took over as PM recently and has consciously sought to defuse Sino-Japanese tensions that marked the tenure of his predecessor, Junichrio Koizumi.

China which is the largest trading partner of Japan and will soon acquire a similar standing with India sees no threat from greater cooperation between New Delhi and Tokyo.

Sun Shihai, a leading expert on South Asian affairs told China Daily today that although “India and Japan are increasingly concerned about China’s growth in the region, you can’t simply say the two countries are trying to work together to contain China”.

India, meanwhile, has no reason to be defensive about its vibrant democratic system. That he represents an “open society and an open economy” has been one of the consistent themes in Singh’s articulation of “the idea of India” since became PM.

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