When Asia Pushes Back

India and Japan’s deepening partnership signals a broader Asian challenge to America’s fading economic dominance.

The notion that the 21st century belongs to Asia is not new. What is new, however, is the way Asian powers are knitting together alliances to counterbalance America’s waning authority. Washington’s tariff wars, erratic diplomacy and selective tolerance of partners’ choices have accelerated this shift. Rather than isolating China or browbeating India, America’s actions have nudged Asian countries into greater cooperation with each other and with long-standing players like Russia.

Nowhere is this more evident than in India’s growing intimacy with Japan. Their relationship, once defined by modest trade and cultural exchange, has matured into a strategic partnership with ambitions transcending bilateral ties. The two countries, democratic in outlook and complementary in capabilities, are using trade, technology and security pacts to shape the contours of an ‘Asian century.’

Donald Trump’s tariff policies and the protectionist mood that persists in Washington were meant to punish China but have also ensnared other Asian economies. India’s purchase of Russian crude oil drew American ire even though China has long done the same with little consequence. Foreign minister S. Jaishankar has repeatedly defended India’s right to secure its own interests, dismissing Western criticism as hypocritical.

New Delhi has doubled down on cultivating allies across Asia and beyond. Trade agreements with Britain, ongoing talks with Australia and South Korea, and even deals with smaller Pacific states like Fiji are part of a deliberate strategy: to dilute America’s leverage and demonstrate that India’s options extend well past Washington.

The most visible outcome of this diplomatic push has been the tightening embrace between India and Japan. Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Tokyo underscored this trajectory. Japan has pledged billions in infrastructure investment, from financing the Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train to backing renewable-energy projects. Its firms are entering Indian markets in semiconductors, space research and start-ups, while India’s rice exports to Japan have doubled in the past two years.

Technology and innovation form the backbone of this partnership. Japan has committed to training 500,000 Indian workers in advanced skills, sending thousands of experts to India to bolster capacity. Joint ventures in artificial intelligence, agriculture and space exploration including Japan’s assistance in India’s Gaganyaan space mission highlight a shared belief that their combined scientific prowess can propel Asia into global leadership.

Thirteen agreements signed at the latest Indo-Japanese summit lay out a roadmap stretching decades ahead. The targets are ambitious: advancing all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, strengthening cyber-security, and coordinating on counter-terrorism. Both countries, as members of the Quad alongside America and Australia, present themselves as guardians of democratic values. Yet their flourishing bilateralism also signals a desire to act independently of Washington when necessary.

This momentum is not confined to Tokyo and Delhi. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), whose recent summit in China drew leaders from across Eurasia, is increasingly a forum for Asian countries to coordinate politically, economically and culturally. India’s presence alongside Russia and China illustrates how even states with differences find common cause when confronted with American tariffs and selective sanctions.

America’s retreat from multilateralism - its withdrawal of funds from UN agencies, the World Health Organisation and other international bodies - has weakened the very architecture of global governance it once championed. Institutions like the IMF and World Bank now face resource constraints just as developing countries most need support. Many in Asia see America’s policies as not only anti-China but anti-poor, undermining the very principles of free trade and globalisation.

The message from the latest Indo-Japanese summit is that Asia will not passively accept American economic diktats. By pooling resources, aligning technologies and coordinating diplomatically, India and Japan are sketching out a development plan that could transform Asia’s economic geography. Their projects, worth an estimated Rs. 100 trillion are designed to reposition Asia as the world’s centre of innovation and trade.

If the last century was defined by America’s industrial and financial dominance, this one may be remembered for Asia’s determination to forge its own path. India and Japan, representing two ends of the continent but united in democratic values and pragmatic ambition, are at the forefront of that shift. Their partnership, once a footnote in world affairs, is fast becoming a bellwether of Asia’s rise.

For America, the warning is stark. Heavy-handed tariffs and selective criticism have alienated potential partners, pushing them towards one another. If Washington persists, it may find itself sidelined in the very region it once sought to dominate. For Asia, this is a stark opportunity to prove that cooperation, rather than coercion, can set the tone for a century that is indeed theirs to claim.

(The writer is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal)