As India and Japan deepen their economic and strategic engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, the deteriorating maritime security environment in the South China Sea impinges on the economic and strategic interests of both states in the region. The South China Sea issue has started to figure prominently in the security dialogue between New Delhi and Tokyo because the economies of both states are heavily based on sea-based transport. Sixty percent of Japan’s energy supplies passes through the South China Sea. More than half of India’s overseas trade flows through the shipping lanes of the South China Sea, which is one of the underlying factors behind the Indian Navy prioritizing the issue of ensuring a stable maritime security environment in the South China Sea region. For Japan and India this maritime region does not simply signify unresolved territorial issues among the littoral states but it raises the spectre of direct military confrontation with the potential to destabilize one of the most important international maritime routes and an economically dynamic region. Strategically, the South China Sea region is of global importance due to two factors: first, it is a critical international trade route through which trillions of dollars of global trade flow; second, the region is rich in hydrocarbons and natural gas.

India and Japan’s common concern over the rapidly deteriorating maritime security environment in the South China Sea region is reflected in the joint statements issued by the two states. For instance, in the annual Indo-Japanese Defence Ministerial Meeting on July 14, 2016, the Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, in a joint statement on the July 2016 South China Sea ruling, called on the parties involved in the territorial disputes to “show utmost respect” for the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It is significant to note that during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in December 2015, the joint statement issued by the two premiers in a similar vein voiced concern over the developments in the South China Sea region and appealed to all parties to “avoid unilateral actions … that could lead to tensions in the region.” India and Japan have also agreed to deepen bilateral maritime security cooperation by initiating Maritime Strategic Dialogue and conducting the India-U.S.-Japan trilateral maritime Malabar Exercise every year.

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003333334