The Indo-Pacific in Japan's strategy towards India

The partnership between Japan and India has steadily deepened since the formation of the second Abe administration. This article, through the analysis of Japan's India strategy, seeks to address how the Indo-Pacific idea has developed and what functions this policy idea has played in the development of Japan's India strategy. This article argues that the Indo-Pacific idea functioned as a linchpin to define goals the two countries would pursue and promote practical collaboration in various policy areas from the economy to security. Moreover, it worked as a normative weapon to diffuse specific values in dealing with maritime security and infrastructure development.