India’s Trade with Japan

Japan’s trade relations with India are traditional, strategic and of vital importance. These trade relations are in the upswings and poised for a new turn. Japan is India’s third biggest trading partner after the USSR and the USA. It accounts for nearly 10 percent of India’s total trade. But the share of India in Japan’s total trade is barely 0.9 percent. Although India’s trade with Japan has been increasing over the years, it has had a trade deficit with Japan in the current decade so far. Hence, the need of the hour is to increase our exports to Japan. This study seeks to review Japan’s trade relations with India over a period of almost three decades, beginning 1960. It endeavors to identify the main items of imports and exports that offer increasing trade prospects between India and Japan. It further studies the major constraints standing in the way of increasing total trade in terms of volume and value. It also suggests suitable strategies to increase exports from India to Japan. This study is the outcome of Dr. Iqbal’s research work done at the Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, (Japan), as a Visiting Research Fellow from 10th February, 1988 to 1st September 1988.