In my articles published in these columns on 24 and 25 July, I had mentioned that the Pacific Islands have emerged as the theatre of greatpower contestation where countries such as the US, China, India and Australia are spreading their influence and leaving their strategic footprints. The submission dwelt on India’s outreach to the Pacific Islands region. The main driver of such initiatives is China whose intentions are under suspicion while the response of other nations committed to protect peace and stability and pursue policies is in accordance with global norms and respects the sovereignty of all stakeholders.

The response is just a counter strategy so that the existing equilibrium is not unduly disturbed. Like India, Japan too has activated its diplomacy to engage with the Pacific Island nations. In its outreach, Japan hosted the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo from 16 to 18 July and invited 18 Pacific Island countries to discuss a host of issues. These leaders last met in person six years ago. The event takes place once every three years but the last meeting was held virtually due to Covid-19. The main areas of Japan’s focus are in defining maritime law and disaster relief, and to redouble its efforts to improve the capabilities of the Pacific island countries. This is because the South Pacific region has been increasingly lashed by destructive tropical cyclones as the surface temperature of the oceans rises due to global warming. Japan too has a history of typhoons and tsunamis as well as earthquakes and has therefore developed robust infrastructure to cope with such challenges.

Japan is therefore in........

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