‘Australia is located at a superficially convenient point in geographical terms and in industrial strength to stress our interest in Asia, and in particular our interest in the two nations at the north-west and north­ east extremities of the arc facing in­ wards to the Asian heartland: India and Japan. Yet there seems no tri­ angular relationship much thought about, let alone practised.’ These words are taken from Sir John Craw­ ford’s foreword to this book, which is the outcome of his suggestion that a conference be sponsored by the Re­ search School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University in order that these three countries should get to know one another better. The papers and discussions pre­ sented here cover both political and economic questions. They examine the background of bilateral relations between India and Japan, Australia and Japan, and Australia and India; INDIA they discuss the future of Japanese economic involvement in South and Southeast Asia; they discuss India’s economic problems and the extent to which Australia and Japan can help with these; and they consider the JAPAN possibilities of co-operation between the three countries. The book will find readers in the fields of business, education, and government, and should interest all those who are concerned about Aust­ AUSTRAL! ralia’s future relations with Asia. Printed in Australia Partners in As ' . ■ £ •'A\V ■' EDITED BY J. D. B. MILLER - !?; $A6.50 ‘Australia is located at a superficially convenient point in geographical terms and in industrial strength to stress our interest in Asia, and in particular our interest in the two nations at the north-west and north­ east extremities of the arc facing in­ wards to the Asian heartland: India and Japan. Yet there seems no tri­ angular relationship much thought about, let alone practised.’ These words are taken from Sir John Craw­ ford’s foreword to this book, which is the outcome of his suggestion that a conference be sponsored by the Re­ search School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University in order that these three countries should get to know one another better. The papers and discussions pre­ sented here cover both political and economic questions. They examine the background of bilateral relations between India and Japan, Australia and Japan, and Australia and India; INDIA they discuss the future of Japanese economic involvement in South and Southeast Asia; they discuss India’s economic problems and the extent to which Australia and Japan can help with these; and they consider the JAPAN possibilities of co-operation between the three countries. The book will find readers in the fields of business, education, and government, and should interest all those who are concerned about Aust­ AUSTRAL! ralia’s future relations with Asia. Printed in Australia Partners in As ' . ■ £ •'A\V ■' EDITED BY J. D. B. MILLER - !?; $A6.50 THE EDITOR AND THE CONTRIBUTORS J. D. B. Miller, Professor of Inter­ national Relations, Australian National University, and editor since 1963 of Australian Outlook, the journal of the Australian Insti­ tute of International Affairs. H. W. Arndt, Professor of Economics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. Anthony Clunies Ross, Senior Lec­ turer in Economics, University of Papua and New Guinea. Sisir Gupta, Senior Research Fellow in International Relations, Aust­ ralian National University. Fuji Kamiya, Professor of Inter­ national Politics, Department of Law, Osaka Municipal University. D. T. Lakdawala, Professor of Eco­ nomics, University of Bombay. T. B. Millar, Professorial Fellow in International Relations, Australian National University. P. A. Narasimha Murthy, Head of Department of East Asian Studies, Indian School of International Studies, New Delhi. R. G. Neale, Professor of History, University of Queensland. Saburo Okita, President, Japan Eco­ nomic Research Center, Tokyo. M. S. Rajan, Director and Professor of Commonwealth History and Institutions, Indian School of Inter­ national Studies, New Delhi. Yoshikazu Sakamoto, Professor of International Politics, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo. D. C. S. Sissons, Fellow in Inter­ national Relations, Australian National University. This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. INDIA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA Partners in Asia? INDIA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA Partners in Asia? Papers from a Conference at the Australian National University September 1967 edited by J. D. B. MILLER AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PRESS Canberra 1968 First published 1968 This book is copyright in all countries subscribing to the Berne Convention; reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission from the publishers, is forbidden Printed and manufactured in Australia Registered in Australia for transmission by post as a book Library of Congress Catalog Card no. 68-56644 National Library of Austraha reg. no. aus 68-577 Foreword The conference from which this volume has originated was the re­ sult of my quite separate dealings in the post-war period with Indian and Japanese officials on behalf of the Australian government, and, in recent years, the World Bank in respect of India. In specific terms, the idea came to me early in 1965 when I had informal dis­ cussions on Australia’s policies vis-ä-vis Asia with the Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department in New Delhi. This background had led me to observe that there seemed little connection of significance between India and Japan; rather more between India and Australia; a great deal more between Japan and Australia; and very little of a triangular nature despite some com­ mon interests and concerns in Asia. However, my experience of India and Japan leads me to make the following points. As regards India, my direct knowledge of the country, its geography, people, and culture, was practically nil before 1964. I had worked closely with Indian officials in Commonwealth con­ ferences since 1950, in gatt, and in fao—usually on matters of com­ mon concern for the rest of the world, not so often on matters of bilateral concern. These were sometimes important, however, as, for example, the Australian wheat market in India. In all these dealings I formed great respect for the Indian officials, and also made good friends. Yet throughout the period from 1950 to 1960, I gained no impression of a great force in Asian affairs in general or in Aus­ tralia’s in particular. My experience since 1964 has been somewhat different and rather deeper. I became a principal adviser to the government of India and the World Bank on Indian food and agricultural policy— a role made easier by my friendships formed earlier. Since October 1964 I have seen India at closer quarters (but still, ever so fraction­ ally), and many questions have come to my mind. India’s own crises—with China and Pakistan, and, not least, arising from the great droughts of 1965-7—have on the one hand somewhat weak­ ened her position of influence in the world, and, on the other, shaken for many in India their belief in the wisdom of non-align­ ment, in addition to emphasising the nature and extent of India’s economic dependence on the West and the Soviet bloc. Throughout these crises, democracy has survived. This is a fact of continuing v i FOREWORD importance to the free world of the West. A basis for rising influence in the world seems to be there if only a sustained rate of economic growth can be achieved. It is a testing time for India; to an Australian observer many questions have presented themselves. Will the nature of India’s crises bring her nearer or take her further away from Australia’s view of China and Asia? Can Australia really be significant in India’s economic program? What would India’s economic growth mean for Australia? Some of the questions may seem impertinent: Australia’s population is but a fraction of India’s, yet in total affluence Aus­ tralia’s, by usual measures of gnp, is at least 50 per cent of India’s. Moreover, there are technological areas in which Australia has much to give—and this without offence to India’s own great experience in research in both the agricultural and non-agricultural spheres. Again, both countries are concerned about vast world problems as well as with Asia: do the United Nations and Commonwealth give us sufficient scope for rapport in ideas and action? Finally, Australia is located at a superficially convenient point in geographi­ cal terms and in industrial strength to stress our interest in Asia, and in particular our interest in the two nations at the north-west and north-east extremities of the arc facing inwards to the Asian heartland: India and Japan. Yet there seems no triangular relation­ ship much thought about, let alone practised. Let me turn to the other extremity of the arc, Japan. Before the war my interest in that country was that of a student of Pacific affairs; in the post-war period I was an administrator of much of Australia’s often discriminatory economic relations with Japan, and was principal official negotiator of the Japan-Australia trade treaty in the mid-1950s. I also had considerable contact in g a it . My work was not unconnected with the San Francisco peace treaty, for this gave the Japanese the right to press for the elimination of economic discrimination. I could say much about what has happened since 1957. The dynamism of our economic relations now embraces investment, tourism, and, rather less, cultural exchange, as well as trade.