South Asia and Beyond

Kishida 1.0 Or Abe 3.0: Japan’s Non-Confrontational Or Robust Response To China?

NEW DELHI:  On ‘Talking Point’, Ambassador Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, India’s Former Envoy To Japan and Chairperson of the India-Japan Friendship Forum and Tomohiko Taniguchi, Former Special Advisor to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s Cabinet and Professor, Graduate School of SDM, Keio University in discussion with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.

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On October 4, Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is set to replace Yoshihide Suga as Prime Minister after he won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote on Wednesday. He will succeed Suga, who pulled out of re-election after his ratings dropped to an all-time low, in his first year in office. Both succeed Shinzō Abe, who is seen as the architect-advocate of the Indo-Pacific construct and the Quad. His now famous 2007 speech to India’s Parliament, quoting the title of a book called ‘Confluence of the Two Seas’ written by the Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh in 1655 is now seen as visionary. The panellists discuss whether the next PM will follow Abe’s footsteps, whether Tokyo’s China policy will reflect current realites, AUKUS and France and what his U.S., India and Indo-Pacific policy will look like.

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